Teenage years can be a particularly hard time for some young people. Educational under-achievement most often leads to social exclusion and multi-faceted disadvantage and in a small number of cases young adolescents on the margins of society and economy are being attracted to extremist groups enticed by the false promises of Neo-Nazi or “Islamic State” ideologies. The economic, political, technological and cultural transformation of the past decade has undoubtedly influenced and aided the development of these worrying trends.Social media offers profound opportunities to generate innovative media content that can be used across all media formats and environments to promote positive role models and counteract the mis-information campaigns of violent extremism and terrorism. Social networking sites are the new 'street corners' where young people 'hang out' and the Internet is like a modern day “Wild West” where any sort of behaviour or activity is plausible and present. Within this virtual cosmos there are growing sections that have been colonized by political and quasi-religious fanatics with vulnerable European youth their target audience. Youth professionals and other front-line workers need the tools, resources and training if they are to repel this advancing menace.In this modern era, dominated by ubiquitous technology and everywhere connectedness, effective youth counselling programmes and strategies need to journey beyond the classroom, the youth club or the counselling suite into virtual worlds currently dominated by streaming videos, blogs and social media environments. Professionals working with vulnerable youth need access to a range of thought provoking digital media resources to tackle radicalization and also appropriate continuous professional development training to ensure that they can both utilize the new resources provided and develop additional resources as needed.There are three strands to CONCORDIA which will combine to address the growing radicalization of disenfranchised indigenous, migrant and refugee youth throughout Europe. The first strand proposes the design and implementation of a bespoke media development training programme to help youth professionals harness the potential of digital media tools and resources to produce and develop media content that can be used to help young people to think critically about extremists’ views and discourses and expose the flaws of such propaganda and to counteract extremist messages. The second strand of the project proposes the design and development of a suite of sample prototype materials that are flexible and adaptable for use in the widest possible range of on-line and off-line environments.The third strand will include the development of an On-line Observatory of Best Practice which will be populated with training resources as a tool-kit for front-line staff. This observatory will also provide a series of discussion forums for front-line workers and professionals in each of the 8 partner countries to collaborate and exchange best practice at national and transnational levels.The radicalization of vulnerable youth within Europe is a relatively new issue and the latest one that youth professional and front-line staff are being asked to address. CONCORDIA provides an innovative and comprehensive response to support youth professionals and other front-line workers. From speaking with young people in their local areas and it is clear to partners that there is a vast cohort of youth who will not be intimidated by recent terrorist actions and these young people have messages of solidarity and support for their peers; a strong sense of civic responsibility and a clear understanding of what is right for a better and fairer Europe. The CONCORDIA project will provide a platform for Europe's young people.
Europe faces a real and ongoing threat from violent extremism. A small minority of groups continue to present false arguments and reasoning that seek to justify attacks on innocent civilians. Radical extremists have shown a mastery of global communication networks, using the Internet to disseminate graphic videos and electronic magazines to spread anti-establishment rhetoric and volumes of ‘fake news’ items to attract potential sympathizers. The radicalization of vulnerable youth within Europe is a relatively new issue and the latest one that youth professional and front-line staff are being asked to address. CONCORDIA provides an innovative and comprehensive response to support youth professionals, front-line youth service providers, educators and trainers and migrant support workers. The consortium comprised eight partner organizations: Romania, Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, France, Cyprus, Finland, Germany. It included organizations with expertise in front-line youth development work; the design and delivery of education and training materials and programmes; the development and provision of continuous professional development training; digital and social media production training; web development and the design of intuitive e-learning environments. On this basis, following concrete results were achieved: (1) A Summary Research Report - The report identified that while the radicalization threat differs from country to country. But digital and social media are extensively used by subversive and extremist groups in each partner countries to engage vulnerable youth. (2) A Countering Radicalization Continuous Professional Development Training Curriculum - a completely new continuous professional development training curriculum that empowers front-liners to deal with the threat of radicalization. The curriculum was designed as a blended learning training course and comprises a total of 100 hours of study. (3) Sample Media Content Tool-kit with Tip-sheets - a suite of sample media outputs. These samples were developed as prototypes that the front-line workers according to their requirements can copy or emulate and include a series of short viral videos; 3 short audio files; a sample web-blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed and Instagram account. (4) The E-Learning-Portal - offers access to all CONCORDIA resources. The portal is optimized for online self-directed learning and for mobile access and works equally well on laptop, tablet or smartphone devices. (5) An On-line Observatory of Best Practice – include projects, methodologies, tools and resources. The observatory provides instant access to a library of tools and resources that support the fight against radicalization and extremism. (6) A Policy Paper "Countering the Radicalization of Vulnerable Youth - A Front-line Approach" - The key issue that the policy paper addresses is the essential role that appropriate continuous professional development plays in supporting front-line youth professionals to achieve quality outcomes in social and educational terms especially when faced with issues like the radicalization of vulnerable youth where specific skill sets are essential. All training resources can be accessed through the project website www.concordia.website where there is a link provided to the e-learning portal which has been developed. All resources developed are available in English, German, French, Czech, Greek, Finnish and Romanian. There is also a link to the project Facebook page where front-line youth workers can connect with like-minded individual throughout Europe.