Regional Cooperation Magazine
CREDITS: National Youth Congress of Albania
N.6
FEBRUARY 2022
Regional Cooperation Magazine
Contents 2
Director’s Editorial
4
Opening Ceremony of “Tirana European Youth Capital 2022”
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Youth Social Inclusion: A Painstaking Process, not an Overnight Event
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The Internationalisation of Cities and Metropolitan Regions: The case of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area
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News from the Youth Employment Fund
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Guaranteeing Youth Employability in the Mediterranean EU South: evidence from a cross-regional research
13
Blue Generation Project updates
17
From the Projects
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We want to hear from you – fill the stakeholder survey about groundwater!
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First specialised regional training for R2G4P members: Аnticorruption Policy Implementation and Public Procurement Gaps
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First Annual Summer School: Methodologies for monitoring anticorruption policies, state capture and public procurement integrity
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State Capture Assessment Diagnostics at Sectoral Level: Training manual
21
Analyzing Public Procurement Risks: Training manual
22
Monitoring Anticorruption Policy Implementation (MACPI): Training manual
23
The sense of apples as part of cultural identity
26
Far-right extremism in the Balkan region: Trends and implications for criminal justice
31
Contributors & Credits
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
Director’s Editorial Dear Friends, two months have passed and meanwhile one new year began. This upcoming period will be full of several news starting from the EEA & Norway Grants’ support to the European Year of Youth, as we already anticipated. And related to that, we have a nice and important news coming from Tirana! The European Youth Culture 2022! It is a pleasure, for us as Fund Operator, to welcome the National youth Congress of Albania in our Regional Cooperation Mag. Why? Because it recently organised (this last February 4th) the opening ceremony of Tirana EYC 2022, with more than 3000 participants and 22 delegations coming from the region and Europe, national and international institutions, ambassadors and young people. Therefore, I see the link! After all, as said by the EU Ambassador Luigi Soreca, we are not talking only about the European Union. It is better to think about a “Team Europe”. «Tirana European Youth Capital is first of all a fabulous opportunity for the youth of this city and this country to share their vision, to present their talents, to meet other people, to engage in activities. For having met many young Albanians across the country in the last three and half years, I have seen for myself that Albania’s youth concentrates an immense potential, energy, and a strong willingness to build a better country for their own future». But, the European Youth Capital is more than that: « It is also a chance to put Tirana – and indeed Albania as whole – on the map of all Europeans. It is a unique occasion for all young Albanians to address the world, project the image of Albania that they want, and share their expectations about the future they strive for, as part of the EU». And I believe that those words can be inspirational for all of us, when thinking about our cities. Not surprisingly, talking about cities, just after our Friend Tom’s usual interesting insight about inclusion, we have dedicated a specific place in this issue to a city… you will discover which city is by browsing our pages :) But this doesn’t mean that our Online Magazine will remain into the background: on the contrary, our Mag can only be a further supporter in terms of more spaces for visibility and dissemination purposes. However, the Regional Cooperation Fund is only indirectly linking to youth, which is, instead, the main target of the Youth Employment Fund. That is why, in one week, we will have the chance to see you and decide together the planning of the year for your info-comm activities. It is a pity that, again, this will be a virtual reunion, but who knows if we can consider it the last one… :) In any case, this first message for this new year, with the occasion of the next meeting and its scope, wants to be an encouragement for you all. The Regional Cooperation Mag was born last year, in the middle of a pandemic, and unfortunately we didn’t have the chance to meet in person, face to face was limited to the monitors of our personal computer. We have tried to always involve you and we have done our best to make you appreciate the Mag as a further sharing space. But…. We need you, your fantasy and your ideas, to turn your good practices in concrete examples to share here, beyond what they already are themselves. !2
Regional Cooperation Magazine We believe that the Regional Funds Week of last December was a great opportunity where we demonstrated that we are part of the same Family sharing common values. We need to keep up, and to strengthen, this path. And of course, we would like you to “exploit” the Mag as much as possible. And in relation to the important and innovative opportunities we have experienced all together, I am very happy, but not surprise, to have in this Regional Cooperation issue two contributions coming from the Youth Employment. Please have a look at the YOUTShare space, “Guaranteeing Youth Employability in the Mediterranean EU South: evidence from a cross-regional research”, and also at the MOOC Platform of the Blue Generation Project, born to “inform youth & future promoters about the job and training opportunities that exist for young people in the 7 different sub-sectors of Blue Economy in Europe”. A demonstration, considering the topics mentioned, that is it possible to cooperate, isn’t it? “We want to hear from you”! I am stealing the EU-WATERRES Project slogan first of all because I want to support their “call”, but also because I believe that these words are reflecting, while referring to another concept, the same meaning that this first page wants to transmit. Hoping you got the message, I can only promote the idea(s) of our Project(s). Therefore, meanwhile, visit this link https://bit.ly/3LRoKGH, select your language considering the countries concerned (Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine) and proceed if you think this can be of interest… :) Let’s give the next Regional Cooperation Magazine’s issues a renovated identity, I am sure we can make it, following your specific sectors of intervention and, therefore, your inspiring practices covering the most disparate, but fundamental, areas. «We want to encourage all young people, especially those with fewer opportunities or from disadvantaged backgrounds, to become active citizens and actors of positive change. We want to promote opportunities provided by EU policies for young people to support their personal, social and professional development. We want to draw inspiration from the actions, vision and insights of young people. As Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, put it: “our Union will be stronger if it is more like our next generation: reflective, determined and caring. Grounded in values and bold in action”». (Luigi Soreca, EU Ambassador, launching of Tirana European Youth Capital 2022)
Gian Luca Bombarda Fund Director
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
Opening Ceremony of “Tirana European Youth Capital 2022” In a special event for young people, the National Youth Congress of Albania organized the opening ceremony of “Tirana European Youth Capital 2022” (Tirana EYC 2022). The ceremony was held on February 4, 2022, at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana. Around 3000 participants, 22 delegations from the region and Europe, national and international institutions, ambassadors and young people became part of the event. The opening words at the ceremony were addressed by the Executive Director of the National Youth Congress Mrs. Dafina Peci and CEO-General Coordinator of Tirana EYC 2022 at the National Youth Congress Ms. Aspasjana Kongo. "Young people share with us this journey. We have received over 1,000 applications from young people from all over the country and their ideas will turn into a colourful calendar of activities and opportunities”, – said Ms. Peci. "Tirana has received the title of European Youth Capital since the first application submitted to the European Youth Forum. For the first time this title comes to a capital city and for the first time this program has an extension throughout the country”, – announced Ms. Kongo. The speeches were followed by messages from the board member of the European Youth Forum Mr. Thomas Matthew, Ambassador of the European Union to Albania H.E Mr. Luigi Soreca, Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj, and Minister of State for Youth and Children Ms. Bora Muzhaqi. Credits: National Youth Congress of Albania
"Each one of you has the opportunity to change the world. This is our moment, our time, this is our day, and this is our year as a European Youth Capital. I am very thankful to all of you who worked hard during the last three years in achieving this amazing title.” – said Mr. Veliaj. The opening ceremony also welcomed messages from young people from all over Europe who sent their congratulations for this year where Tirana holds the title of European Youth Capital. An important moment was the video message of the famous artist, Dua Lipa, who invited all young people to become part of the activities. The National Youth Congress in full cooperation with the municipality of Tirana implement in 2022 a macro program with fantastic opportunities, numerous initiatives and activities that focus on youth. The program aims to empower youth by creating new opportunities and giving it a European dimension. To follow the livestream of the opening ceremony event for Tirana, the European Youth Capital for 2022, please click here. Department of Public Relations and Marketing for Tirana European Youth Capital 2022, National Youth Congress of Albania !4
Regional Cooperation Magazine
Youth Social Inclusion: A Painstaking Process, not an Overnight Event “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Social inclusion can often be a slippery term that defies intelligent interpretation. At its simplest, it is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity. Inclusion is not tolerance; it is unquestioned acceptance. From a youth perspective, social inclusion is the process of individual’s self-realisation and fulfilment within a society; acceptance and validation of one’s potential by social institutions; integration (through study, sport, the creative world, employment, volunteer work or other forms of participation) in the fabric of social and communal relations in a society. In present-day European societies, the concept applies to all young people, as youth make the first and crucial steps in the rite of passage, the
transition from family dependence to autonomy within a larger society. This is often a fastrevolving stage with rapidly emerging contexts, casts and circumstances. It has an added marked meaning to those young people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and live in insecure conditions. For them, social inclusion involves breaking down various barriers – including penury and prejudice - in order to acquire their social rights as full participating members of society. According to the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat), in 2020, the rate of young people aged 16-29 years at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU was 24.1%, or 18.1 million young people, with women at slightly higher risk than men. For statistical purposes, social exclusion is based on three indicators: the atrisk-of-poverty rate, the severe material deprivation rate and the share of households
with very low work intensity. People at risk of poverty or social exclusion are defined as people who are in at least one (but possibly two or all three) of these situations. These stark statistics have gone some way towards focussing minds, channelling energies and directing EU policies towards the alleviation of this unacceptable situation. As is the norm, an institutional pledge embraces the collective call to arms: The European Commission is making a commitment to the youth of Europe by acknowledging that it “needs the vision, engagement and participation of all young people to build a better future, that is greener, more inclusive and digital. Europe is striving to g i v e y o u n g p e o p l e m o re a n d b e t t e r opportunities for the future”.
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Regional Cooperation Magazine The ‘European Year of Youth’ moves into its third month and continues to shine a spotlight on the challenges and opportunities for youth, with funds and political promises amalgamated in arranged marriages. As youth voice and agency flexes its muscles, this year offers a timely opportunity for the Fund’s Family to profile their imaginative and far-reaching projects aimed at tackling the problems of social exclusion. This collective effort should be more than a window-dressing exercise, more than a vulgar visibility exercise; strategically channelled and coordinated it can evolve into a major advocacy movement that ensures that youth social exclusion is not just kept on the political agenda, but that the continuing pressure can be translated into meaningful and effective policies. The anthem for such a campaign is eloquently articulated by the words of author Liz Fosslien: “Diversity is having a seat at the table Inclusion is having a voice Belonging is having that voice be heard”
Thomas Mc Grath
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
The Internationalisation of Cities and Metropolitan Regions: The case of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area The Internationalisation in Cities and Metropolitan Regions “The Covid-19 pandemic is over!”, an affirmation and statement which many cities across the world are about to announce loudly. An end date really seems to be in hand reach. But what does this imply in terms of relaunching the territorial activities, the securing of the urban built environment against future risks and above all the internationalisation of the “new urban” and telling the story globally? A lot has been debated and written during the pandemic of the changes we experience in cities and their metropolitan regions due to Covid-19 with effects such as the profound digital disruption, the center-periphery commutes or the “new” opportunities of networking intelligence. Cities will likely remain centers of innovation and wealth creation, and at macrogeographical scale the power of local economic drivers will not alter, once this crisis is over.
However, certain characteristics and features when it comes to cities’ attractiveness will change and become more decisive considering that urban hotspots still face air and noise pollution, the climate change consequences and often are lacking green space. “Soft” factors such as safety and security, access and commitment to healthy actions and mobility, quality of life promotion, zero-km food -to name a few- will dominate the identity and image of urban spaces in addition to the “normal” city’s strengths in the near future. In addition, internal spatial boundaries will be less relevant in the new context, opening opportunities, but at the same time a challenge, to successfully brand the city abroad. Finally, and in the European context, the multiple funding opportunities released by the many international Donors (e.g. EU NextGeneration, MFF 2021-2027, EEA & Norway Grants) will influence and help to design and develop, largely boost building back better our life in cities.
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Regional Cooperation Magazine As a consequence, strong expertise and knowledge, generating thought leadership with a multi-actor approach (i.e. public-private and public-public partnerships), a systematic internal and external communication (incl. the citizens), marketing using multiple channels and sufficient resources is needed in addition to the support at the internationalisation of the respective metropolitan areas, so to position them on the global map. A coherent territorial development, as the physical, social, economic and cultural aspects combine to deliver the brand promise and to communicate it internationally. A good example in this context of how such a metropolitan internationalisation strategy has been recently developed is the one of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (BMA), aiming to create a smart, sustainable and inclusive strategy for the mid-to-long term. There is no doubt that the Barcelona brand has assets and potential that bring economic, social and positioning benefits but that at the same time also generate negative effects such as the impact on the environment, the massification of tourism, security or the high price of housing. One of the big questions when talking about the positioning of a city or metropolitan region in the global scale is why we are known. Barcelona, for example, is worldwide recognised for FC Barcelona, Gaudí buildings,
urban planning, big events such as the Mobile World Congress, the Mediterranean Sea, gastronomy, etc. But are these the assets that we want to continue promoting in order to attract new opportunities? In the metropolis of Barcelona very innovative projects are developed. For example, the Low Emission Zone around Barcelona to improve air quality, which is the largest in southern Europe, the Alba Synchrotron to conduct cutting edge synchrotron light based research and development, the D-Factory in the field of 3D printing and Industry 4.0, metropolitan green infrastructure projects around the Llobregat and Besós rivers, natural parks and green connectors, etc. We are also global leaders in sectors such as health, food, creative industries, mobile or video games that concentrate an ecosystem of companies, research centers and administrations that are tractors of new opportunities. Barcelona also hosts the headquarters of numerous city networks and also of different international organisations. Among the networks we can highlight United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Metropolis, MedCities, Educating Cities, CIDEU, Ascame, etc. International institutions and organisations include the Union for the Mediterranean, the E I T- U r b a n M o b i l i t y, t h e E u r o p e a n Mediterranean Forest Institute and the UNHabitat Resilience Hub. The headquarters of these organisations generate a relevant
institutional and economic activity and are also a good source of local and international talent attraction. Barcelona is also one of the noncapital cities with the largest presence of consular offices with more than a hundred delegations. Having an internationalisation strategy is a way to set one's own profile, define priorities, generate local and international alliances, and be accountable to the citizens.
The Internationalisation Plan for the Barcelona Metropolitan Area 2021-2025 The metropolitan phenomenon is a territorial, economic, social and environmental reality shared by the different regions of the world. According to UN-Habitat data from 2020, there are 1,934 metropolitan areas in the world with more than 300,000 inhabitants, representing around 60% of the world's population. However, there are very few experiences of metropolitan institutions such as the Barcelona Metropolitan Area with their own system of governance, an important budget and the provision of services at the supra-local level. This makes the BMA an institution that generates a lot of interest and has a very important internationalization potential.
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Regional Cooperation Magazine The BMA is a unique local government in Spain that occupies a territory of 636 square kilometers, 3.3 million inhabitants and 36 municipalities including Barcelona. The BMA has a long tradition of international activity linked to its competencies: urban planning, mobility and transport, water and waste management, housing, public space and green infrastructure management, housing, economic promotion and social cohesion. Because of political will, in July 2021 the BMA approved the first internationalisation plan 2021-25. It is one of the first internationalisation plans made by a metropolitan government. The Plan has a duration that goes beyond the current political mandate and for its drafting more than 30 individual interviews and meetings with focus groups (city councils, BMA technical services, public and private stakeholders and international partners of the BMA) have been held with the participation of more than 100 people. The Plan is structured in five strategic axes that mark the international action of the BMA: 1) Lobbying the European and international political agenda 2) Attraction of European and international funds 3) Innovation and knowledge management 4) International economic projection 5) International cooperation.
These axes prioritise different projects and also different ways of action such as coordination with metropolitan city councils, bilateral relations with other metropolitan areas, international city networks and alliances with strategic partners. The Plan also proposes how the BMA intends to act in the different geographical areas of the world with a clear commitment with Europe, the Mediterranean regions, the United States, Canada and Latin America. Asia and Africa have an important role to play, but due to lack of resources, they have a different level of prioritization. The Plan defines a set of measures for annual monitoring and reporting, mid-term evaluation and the possibilities to adapt the Plan to new priorities or changes in the global context.
B y Wo r l d A s s o c i a t i o n o f t h e M a j o r Metropolises, Metropolis Observatory Issue Paper 09 I 2021 www.metropolis.org Attractiveness. City´s internationalisation pathway to smart growth By URBACT, edited on 13 August 2018 https://urbact.eu/attractiveness-city%C2%B4sinternationalisation-pathway-smart-growth-0
Authored by: Alexander Heichlinger, GovInsight & Xavier Tiana, Barcelona Metropolitan Area
For more details please consult (soon available in ENG, too): https://www.amb.cat/ca/web/amb/ actualitat/publicacions/detall/-/publicacio/pla-dinternacionalitzacio-2021-2025/12086499/1169 6 Other references & back-ground readings Cities and internationalization: 4 trends that are shaping a new scenario of opportunities By Marta Galceran, Sergio García i Rodríguez & Albert Tapia | 2021 h t t p s : / / w w w. c i t i e s t o b e . c o m / c i t i e s internationalization-new-opportunities/ The internationalisation of metropolitan spaces !9
Regional Cooperation Magazine
NEWS FROM YOUTH EMPLOYMENT FUND Guaranteeing Youth Employability in the Mediterranean EU South: evidence from a crossregional research Note This is a summary of a prefinal article to be submitted in a scientific journal especially adapted for the Youth Employment Magazine. Adaptation: Zoe Touvra, PhD candidate University of the Aegean The recent global economic recession accounts for the significant rise of the Not in Employment, Education or Training population (NEETs) in Southern European countries with semi-peripheral characteristics and lessadvanced capitalism (Thurlby-Campbell and Bell, 2017). At the same time Active Labour Market Policies, and most notably the Youth Guarantee action plan (YG) have been employed to facilitate the constant contact of young people with the labour market. The EU member states committed to its implementation through the European Council Recommendation of April 2013. Almost a decade later, the effectiveness question is pressing one, especially from a regional perspective.
The already expressed criticism against the YG policy framework, usually revolves around the supply side perspective applied to the unemployment phenomenon which centralised the concept of employability or “the character or quality of being employable” (McQuaid and Lindsay, 2005:3). The supply side perspective of this argument connected labour to the improvement of an individual's personal work skills in order to improve their “accessibility to the market” (Hillage and Pollard, 1998). The “question of the individual” inescapably prevailed transferring the burden of transformation to the unemployed individual. In a milder, yet faithful to this perspective, approach, the YG seeks actively to up-skill, or re-skill the unemployed individual in order to improve its access to the labour market. Schemes of (self-) entrepreneurship, training courses, on-the-job training or waged labour subsidies have not been positively proven to be catalysts for quality employment (Pasqual and
Martin, 2017). Although, YG eventually reduces unemployment, the connection of the unemployed youth to quality jobs remains a working hypothesis. Besides the aforementioned general criticism, the present study re-approaches statistical data to point towards a different line of criticism against the effectiveness of YG; one that centralises spatial heterogeneity. The high contribution of Spain and Italy to the total YG programme enrolment puts them in the spotlight, as these countries, together with France, account for 47% of the total YG programme enrolment (European Commission, 2018). At the same time, Spain and Italy show a high spatial heterogeneity between their southern and northern regions in terms of poverty and income inequality (Benedetti et al., 2020).
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Regional Cooperation Magazine Indeed, the most illustrative, intra-national examples of spatial heterogeneity in southern Europe are Spain, Italy and Greece, with the former two countries being divided between their southern and northern regions in terms of poverty and income inequality (Benedetti et al., 2020) and the latter one having practically only two regions out of thirteen with a GDP per capita above the 75% EU threshold. A focus on Italy and Spain would reveal that ultimately addressing the NEET phenomenon is of topical interest. In Italy YG is managed by the National Agency for Active Labour Policies (ANPAL) under the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. ANPAL allocates funds among the regions, while each region develops its own regional implementation policies through regional employment centres (It2). To that extent the regional authorities enjoy certain degree of autonomy in developing tailored policies. Figure 1 shows that southern regions that record high NEET rates tend to have more YG enrolees. However, certain southern regions (e.g. Calabria or Campania) do not follow the same trend. In contrast, Tuscany, and FriuliVenezia Giulia -both economically prosperous regions- have significantly lower NEET rates while experiencing high concentration of YG enrolments. A simplified interpretation would ascertain that more prosperous regions have a more efficient application of the YG program. Nonetheless, the quantitative analysis leads to a paradox: the most recent data indicate that in most of those prosperous regions, the YG
enrolments are higher than the NEET numbers in the region. Key informants attribute that to southern regional authorities pushing young people to enrol in more prosperous regions. Under these circumstances, YG enrolments should be conceived as potential internal interregional migrants, especially in short distances. Of course, this is not an economy underpinned migration but rather an institutional, administrative reorganization between short-distanced regions. Overall, in addition to structural, economic parameters, geographic and institutional parameters play an important role in the spatial distribution of YG enrolees. The top-down design of the YG programme establishes a situation of continuous precariousness for the YG enrolees rather than an induction to quality labour positions.
Figure 1. Location Quotient (LQ(a)) revealing regional over/ under concentration of YG registrations compared to the national level, and regional NEET rates, Italy, 2019. Source: ANPAL, SEPE reports and EU labour force survey, compiled by the authors.
The Spanish YG is managed by the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) under the Ministry of Labour and Social economy. SEPE sets the funding allocation and provide the regulatory conditions, leaving implementation and execution to the involved regions with a high degree of autonomy. Figure 2 shows that southern regions that record high NEET rates tend to have more YG enrolees. In the same path, the lowest concentration of enrolees and NEET rates are observed in Catalonia and in the Valencian Community –both prosperous regions. Nonetheless, the key informants interviewed were highly critical to the YG. Institutional-operational deficiencies in the Spanish YG framework are triggered by the lack of coordination According to a key stakeholder the fragmentation that penetrates the institutional structure causes a low connectivity between enterprises and National and regional authorities as a result high records of YG enrolment coincides with a broad sense of underperformance by the interviewees of the study. The Spanish YG register does not delete young people once they have access to an offer of employment, education or training, unless the young person actively requests to be deleted. Thus, the information provided is cumulative. Thus, the Spanish registry does not provide information on the details of registrants, but on registrations. The high concentration of YG registrations in Spain is not so much the result of a successful application but is related to the insufficient and regionally uncoordinated registration procedures. !11
Regional Cooperation Magazine Nevertheless, amid a recessionary and crisisprone environment they only replicate the supply-side employability. Small firms in the Italian South concentrated in sectors with low technological and innovative capacity require relatively low skills from the workforce. While, in Spain the continuous redistribution of a limited welfare budget among the same number of beneficiaries perpetuates the 'flexibilization' of precarious young workers.
Figure 2: Location Quotient (LQ(b)) revealing regional over/ under concentration of YG registrants, calculated for the aggregate of NUTS-2 regions of Spain and Italy, 2019. Source: ANPAL, SEPE reports and EU labour force survey, compiled by the authors.
Prima facie it is the institutional structure of the YG that gives a distorted picture of the distribution of YG enrolments between regions. In Italy, young people participating in the YG are encouraged to register in the most prosperous regions in the hope of finding a job, retaining by that the status of potential interregional migrants, thus serving a latent youth labour mobility. Similarly, in Spain, keeping young people registered even after receiving a job offer causes a two-way continuity from the employment situation to that of unemployment (NEETs) and creates a different kind of latent mobility. These two types of latent mobility may be seen as the result of the misapplication of the YG.
Bibliography Thurlby-Campbell, I., Bell, L., 2015. Agency, Structure and the NEET Policy Problem The Experiences of Young People. Bloomsbury Academic. McQuaid, R.W. and Lindsay, C., 2005. The concept of employability. Urban studies, 42(2), pp.197-219. Hillage, J. and Pollard, E. (1998) Employability: Developing a Framework for Policy Analysis. London: DfEE. Serrano Pascual, A. and Martín Martín, P., 2017. From ‘Employability’ to ‘Entrepreneuriality’ in Spain: youth in the spotlight in times of crisis. Journal of Youth Studies, 20(7), pp.798-821. Benedetti, I., Crescenzi, F. and Laureti, T., 2020. Measuring Uncertainty for Poverty Indicators at Regional Level: The Case of Mediterranean Countries. Sustainability, 12(19), p.8159. European Commission (EC), 2018. Data collection for monitoring of Youth Guarantee schemes 2017, December 2018. Available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet? docId=19159&langId=ga Authors Effie Emmanouil, PhD candidate University of the Aegean George Chatzichristos, PhD University of the Aegean Andrew Herod, Professor University of Georgia Stelios Gialis, Associate Professor University of the Aegean
YOUTHShare Project
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
Blue Generation Project updates • • • • • •
Join the BlueGeneration MOOC platform and learn about the jobs in Blue Economy What is the Blue Economy? What are the jobs and the prospects related with it? What skills do i need for each job? You can find the answers and much more in the BlueGeneration MOOC platform. The BlueGeneration MOOC platform aims to inform youth & future promoters about the job and training opportunities that exist for young people in the 7 different sub-sectors of Blue Economy in Europe, i.e. coastal tourism, a q u a c u l t u r e , o c e a n e n e r g y, m a r i n e biotechnology, shipbuilding, maritime transport, and fisheries. What will you learn about each subsector? • Facts & recent data
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Specialties, Roles & Working conditions Job opportunities in different countries Training & Education required Regulatory environment in Europe This course is geared towards: Youth who want to develop their career path and find job and training prospects in the Blue Economy in Europe Mentors who want to promote to young people the opportunities in the Blue Economy
Structure The BlueGeneration MOOC platform consists of 10 independent modules. Each module includes an introductory text, a short video by an expert in the specific subsector, the video with the core training material, further information & resources, and a final quiz per subsector. Duration The total duration is approximately 3 hours. The modules are independent, and you can complete them in any order according to your personal interests.
Below some of the latest activities of the Blue Generation Project:
Militos Consulting S.A held the 3rd blueTALK on 16th of February on the employment prospects in Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture. The third blueTALK highlighted the strong demand for young workforce in Fisheries, the career opportunities that are created in the growing sector of Aquaculture and the sustainable ways for economic growth in these fields of the economy. !13
Regional Cooperation Magazine BlueTALKS is a series of online discussions with Blue Economy experts and it is yet another innovative initiative by Militos Consulting S.A. in the frame of #BlueGenerationProject to raise awareness and inform young people on #job_opportunities in the rapidly growing sector of the Blue Economy. In the 3rd blueTALK participated Mr. Savvas Smirnakis, Chairman of the Association of Fishmongers of the Central Seafood Market of Piraeus, Ms. Ismini Bogdanou, Communication and Public Relations Director, Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization (HAPO) and Mr. Nikos Therapos, Director of Policy and Economics, Enaleia. Some of the points stated by the experts: Fisheries offer a wide range of jobs in all stages of production, processing, wholesale and retail distribution, and there is a strong demand for young workforce. Aquaculture which develops rapidly and steadily, offers various career opportunities with local presence of enterprises in 11 of the 13 prefectures in Greece especially to young women, who prefer to work in their local environment. Meanwhile, by developing sustainable and alternative ways of growth in Fisheries and in Aquaculture new job opportunities are born for specialized but also non specialized youth, i.e in planning and law or collection of plastics. The BlueGeneration Project consortium is welcoming into their Blue Generation Family
two new beneficiary partners, HELMEPA and T4E.
The Hellenic Marine Environment Protection A s s o c i a t i o n ( H E L M E PA ) i s a n o n governmental, non-profit-making organization with a membership community of 1,955 Greekowned vessels of all types, 230 shipping companies and organizations in Greece and abroad and 14,000+ Greek seafarers and maritime professionals. Its mission is to develop and nurture an environmental consciousness within shipping by informing and educating the human element, ‘from shipowner to seafarer’. Educational and refresher training initiatives include seminars and webinars, technical publications, e-bulletins and ship-board motivational material, an elearning platform, and a wide range of seminars at the Centre’s Full Mission Bridge Simulator. As Technical Advisor of the Greek Delegation to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Partner of the United Nations Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP), it supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a recognition for its impactful action since 1982, HELMEPA won the Sustainability Award at the Lloyd's List Greek Shipping Awards 2021.
In terms of public awareness, HELMEPA has been implementing since 1983 in Greece annual campaigns for Clean Seas and Beaches including permanent and mobile environmental exhibitions, workshops and environmental education programs. In total, more than 575,000 youth and 7,700 teachers in 2,500 schools throughout Greece have been engaged in HELMEPA’s activities towards protecting the marine environment, thus promoting Goal 14 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Visit HELMEPA website Instagram LinkedIn Twitter Facebook/HELMEPA Facebook/HELMEPA Maritime
TEAM4Excellence (T4E) is an NGO founded in 2017 at Constanta, SE Romania. T4E strives to improve the socio-economic conditions & the quality of life through education, research & consulting to address societal challenges. T4E produces & transfers innovation, experience & knowhow through cooperation with domestic & international social, academic & business partners. The main strategic directions of T4E are: !14
Regional Cooperation Magazine EU projects and alike, to develop people & organizations • Business training, assessment, consulting using the EFQM Model & Business Model Canvas T4E delivers personal professional development training courses for individuals, private & public organizations in the areas of STEAM, blue economy, entrepreneurship, digitalization, and training methods. For example, T4E hosts practical workshops where people turn their business idea into workable business models with market validation. Key people at T4E have a wealth of experience in the blue economy, including marine and nautical engineering, offshore oil and gas project management, casualty investigations and expert report writing for courts and arbitrations, academic teaching as well as project evaluations for the EC. As a result, T4E cooperates with training centers, blue professionals, and industry partners to strengthen the intra and inter sector mobility of young people in the blue economy. •
Visit our webpage dedicated to European projects and our online learning platform. Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube
Blue Generation Project
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Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy Culture, Civil Society, Good Governance and Fundamental Rights and Freedoms Justice and Home Affairs Innovation, Research, Education and Competitiveness Social Inclusion, Youth Employment and Povery Reduction !16
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We want to hear from you – fill the stakeholder survey about groundwater! https://eu-waterres.eu/.../%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%ba%d0%b5%d1.../ https://eu-waterres.eu/pl/ankieta/ Want to know more about EU-WATERRES project and stay tuned? Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/euwaterres Twitter: https://twitter.com/EuWaterres Homepage: http://eu-waterres.eu/
Project EU-WATERRES “EU-integrated management system of crossborder groundwater resources and anthropogenic hazards” If you are from Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine, fill in the survey! Water/nature experts, policy makers, academia, NGOs, SMEs, public etc.! We want to hear from you all! We kindly ask you to answer 10 questions to identify your needs and address them during the EU-WATERRES project. Fill the survey in national languages: https://eu-waterres.eu/lv/anketa/ https://eu-waterres.eu/et/kusimustik/
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
First specialised regional training for R2G4P members: Аnticorruption Policy Implementation and Public Procurement Gaps The R2G4P project, a spin-off from the SELDI initiative, aims to close the anticorruption policy implementation and public procurement gaps across SEE, and thus amplify the impact of the planned increase in EU infrastructure support until 2025. The activities will be implemented in the framework of a Regional Good Governance Public-Private Partnership Platform (R2G4P), focusing on nine beneficiary countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia). In order to increase the capacity of CSO partners to diagnose and tackle corruption risks, the R2G4P initiative held its first internal three-day regional training on 7-9 July 2021. The training modules were structured around the project’s key methodologies. On 7 July 2021, experts from the Government Transparency Institute (GTI), Hungary made an overview of the most common public procurement integrity issues that countries from the region face, and provided an introduction to Opentender.eu. Opentender.eu is a free of charge platform that allows the visitors to search and analyse tender data from 33 jurisdictions (28 EU member states, Norway, the EU Institutions, Iceland, Switzerland, Georgia). Red flags pointing out to potentially corrupt public procurements include short advertisement periods, biased specifications that exclude companies from applying, the winner being a single bidder, high contracts share of the winner, short decision period, modifying the contract and increasing its value or duration. On 8 July 2021, CSD and GTI presented their approaches to state capture monitoring and assessment. CSD explained that the State Capture Assessment Diagnostics (SCAD) tool defines “state capture” as an
exploitation of the power of government for private benefit in systematic and permanent manner, involving various forms of corruption and illegitimate activities. Thus, state capture could be divided into four dimensions: business capture, political capture, judiciary capture and black market capture. GTI added that state capture could easily be observed through a network analysis of the public procurement relations. Based on the share of corrupt buyers, suppliers and their clusters, a state could be either corruption free; corrupt without state capture; partially appropriated or fully captured. The last day of the training, 9 July 2021, was dedicated to the MACPI (Monitoring Anticorruption Policy Implementation) tool. MACPI provides assessment of individual public institution’s anticorruption policies through quantitative surveys among employees, external experts and clients. It is designed as an internal management tool for the pubic body, used to identify the levels of corruption pressure over its activities and the gaps in the enforcement of its anticorruption policies. As a next step, the partners will implement the MACPI and Opentender tool and compare the national-level findings in an annual SEE Good Governance Report. Source: https://seldi.net/news-and-events/first-specialised-regional-trainingfor-r2g4p-members/ Project Implementing shared anti-corruption and good governance solutions in Southeast Europe: innovative practices and public-private partnerships !18
Regional Cooperation Magazine
First Annual Summer School: Methodologies for monitoring anticorruption policies, state capture and public procurement integrity The need of a behavioural change and an active civil society in Southeast Europe (SEE) is highlighted by the region’s economic and democratic challenges. This confirms that anti-corruption is not a final destination, but a consistent process of democratic renewal, checks and balances. In order to support the region’s anti-corruption stakeholders and practitioners, the R2G4P initiative organized a 2-day summer school on 7 and 8 October 2021 on monitoring corruption and state capture vulnerabilities. Building up on the first specialised training for R2G4P members, the summer school’s three sessions were framed according to the key methodologies of the initiative. The first session provided a comprehensive analysis of the key public procurement integrity risks in the region and discussed the most efficient method of identifying and measuring them. The lecturers from the Government Transparency Institute (GTI), Hungary explained that corruption in procurement is used to steer a contract to a favoured bidder without detection. This is achieved by either avoiding competition or by favouring a certain bidder (e.g. by tailoring technical specifications or sharing inside information). They also noted that misconduct occurs at all critical decision points in the procurement process – planning and advertisement of the call, proposal submission and selection, evaluation of the offers, contract’s negotiations and implementation. In order to detect potentially corrupt procurements, analytical tools such as the free Opentender.eu platform could be used. The platform monitors indicators such as share of single bidder contracts and direct contract awards, lack of call for tender published in an official journal, short submission periods, number of modifications in the open call and the contract, etc. The experts recommended that the analysis of public procurement data is further used for policy reforms, including the adjustments of procedural thresholds and setting of new accountability rules.
During the second session, the experts from the Center for Study of Democracy explained the theoretical approach towards the assessment of state capture at economic sector level and the methodology for identifying market monopolization risks. The speakers noted that, although state capture is a hidden phenomenon, it directly affects public policies, leaving longlasting and observable public traces. CSD’s State Capture Assessment Diagnostics (SCAD) empowers policymakers and researchers with a tool, able to monitor state capture pressure and address the identified policy gaps. A further advantage of the tool is its flexibility; it can be easily adjusted and applied in different countries and in various economic sectors. On the second day, CSD’s experts presented the Monitoring Anticorruption Policy Implementation (MACPI) tool. MAPCI has been implemented in more than 20 public organizations within the European Union and the Western Balkans such as border police, labour inspectorates, tax authorities, construction inspection, municipalities, ministries of interior, anticorruption agencies, etc. The tool provides assessment of the individual public institution’s anticorruption policies through quantitative surveys among employees, external experts and clients. Thus, MACPI allows the management of the evaluated public body to better identify and manage existing and emerging corruption risks in its field of work. Source: https://seldi.net/news-and-events/first-annual-summer-schoolmethodologies-for-monitoring-anticorruption-policies-state-capture-andpublic-procurement-integrity/ Project Implementing shared anti-corruption and good governance solutions in Southeast Europe: innovative practices and public-private partnerships !19
Regional Cooperation Magazine
State Capture Assessment Diagnostics at Sectoral Level: Training manual State capture is a combination of different forms of corruption which have a single objective: to secure wholesale and long-term privileges to captors by exploiting the power of governments for private benefit. Since state capture is a deeply hidden phenomenon, most of the evidence for its presence is highly anecdotal and qualitative in nature. Reliable quantitative estimates are few and the ones that exist focus on vulnerabilities and symptoms of state capture rather than direct measurement of the phenomenon which is considered impossible. However, the key characteristic of state capture is the public traces it leaves behind. Thus, the methodology for State Capture Assessment Diagnostics (SCAD) presented in the current manual focuses on the state capture’s specific features: dimensions, enablers, drivers, effects and outcomes. The current manual is prepared under the R2G4P initiative, coordinated by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria and benefiting from a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. Download the manual here.
Project Project Implementing shared anti-corruption and good governance solutions in Southeast Europe: innovative practices and public-private partnerships
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
Analyzing Public Procurement Risks: Training manual The main purpose of the manual is to introduce how data analytics can encourage good governance practices by highlighting the weaknesses of public procurement systems and by supporting independent corruption risk research. To achieve this, the document gives a step-by-step introduction to the analytical process of large-scale public procurement datasets. First, it briefly introduces the conceptual background of a generic public procurement process, while also highlighting its potential corruption risks. Second, it presents the most important aspects of creating an appropriate dataset for quantitative research. Finally, it presents a group of rigorously tested and validated Corruption Risk Indicators (CRIs), created by the Government Transparency Institute (GTI), that are equipped to measure the corruption risks of public procurements. Additionally, the manual also introduces the Opentedner website, which was created to provide comprehensive public procurement information free of charge in an easy-touse format. The manual can assist R2G4P partner institutions as well as independent researchers to successfully execute large-scale quantitative research. It also provides thorough information on the availability of complete data sets and risk indicators that can be accessed and used by every interested party. Download the manual here.
Project Project Implementing shared anti-corruption and good governance solutions in Southeast Europe: innovative practices and public-private partnerships !21
Regional Cooperation Magazine
Monitoring Anticorruption Policy Implementation (MACPI): Training manual The MACPI methodology was initially developed by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and University of Trento in 2014-2015 with the support of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Home Affairs. The main goal of MACPI is to assess, monitor and facilitate the enforcement of anti-corruption measures and policies at the level of individual public bodies. MACPI has already proven successful by auditing a number of public organizations in Italy, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. MACPI provides a periodic assessment of the coverage, the implementability, the implementation and the effectiveness of anticorruption policies by assessing the policies themselves through quantitative surveys among officials and experts. At the same time, levels of corruption pressure (both actual experiences and estimates) are monitored through conventional victimization surveys among both officials (employees) and “clients” of the respective institution. Finally, the answers of different groups of respondents are examined against each other. MACPI is usually complemented by other tools like SCAD (State Capture Assessment Diagnostics), CMS (Corruption Monitoring System), etc. The current manual is prepared under the R2G4P initiative, coordinated by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria and benefiting from a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. Download the manual here. Project Project Implementing shared anti-corruption and good governance solutions in Southeast Europe: innovative practices and public-private partnerships
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
The sense of apples as part of cultural identity When growing up by a fjord on the south-western coastline of Norway, the growing of fruit is for many people part of their common heritage. The landscape, soil and seasons lay the foundation for fruitful harvests. The same factors also nurture people’s cultural identity. Apple production, identity and cultural factors all come together in the project Uncorking cultural heritage. Gathering knowledge along the value chain of cider production is at the project core. The backbone of it all, is the cultural heritage on which both apple-growing and various spin-off productions rest. Since monks started culturing apples in the Ullensvang district of Hardanger around the 13th century, apples have through generations become a trademark and a regional pride in the south-eastern part of Hardanger.
of involvement ads to their sense of belonging and their sense of ‘me’, their cultural heritage and identity. Workshops on taste Hence, the science team at NIBIO has conducted two ‘Taste Workshops’ on the topic taste, smell and texture of apples. The first workshop was held during the ‘research days’ in Odda, the second at the Hardanger Apple and Cider fair in Øystese. – At the work-shops, Children and young adults who visited the stands, were
challenged to describe the sensory appearance of apple fruit and juice in their own words, Ingunn Øvsthus says. – Mentimeter, an interactive, web-based response system, was used to gather
Engaging the young ones The project aims to appeal, not only to the involved business and academic segments along the value-chain, but also to the younger generations. NIBIOresearcher and the Norwegian project manager, Ingunn Øvsthus, explains:
the terms they used and to create word clouds. Sweet, crisp, nice, acidic, velvet, balanced, mellow – and many other words were some of the answers. They were also challenged to identify what type of apples the juice was made from.
– Inviting children and teen-agers to take part in the project activities through
such a familiar act as taking a bite of an apple and describing the sensing experience of it, the aim is to collect the words they use for characterizing smell, taste and texture and to raise awareness about the sensory attributes of apples and apple-products. In addition to these project goals, she says there’s a bonus to be had. – We believe that such engagement from ‘the young ones’ also contributes to
A panel for securing product quality Among other project activities, a sensory panel for evaluation of the trademark Cider from Hardanger, has been established at Lofthus in Hardanger. The product name Cider from Hardanger is a protected designation of origin. The members of the panel will train their senses to find and define the typicalities of the products. The sensory panel will in the future be part of a cider-quality assurance system and function as an advisory organ for the producers.
enhance their feeling of identity. The fruit, the taste and the whole experience By Kjersti Kildahl, NIBIO
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
What does an apple, or apple juice, from Hardanger taste like? The questions were asked to visitors at the apple and cider fair in Øystese, Hardanger, on the Norwegian west coast. They used their cell-phones to transmit their answers. Photo credits: Kjersti Kildahl
Also at the ‘research-day’ in Odda, Hardanger, children and other visitors were asked to taste and describe apples and apple juice. Project manager Ingunn Øvsthus in the back, talking to visitors. Photo credits: Trude Rinaldo
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
A sensory panel for evaluation of the trademark Cider from Hardanger, has been established at Lofthus in Hardanger. The sensory panel will in the future be part of a cider-quality ensurance system and function as an advisory organ for the producers. Photo credits: Karl Ystanes
An example of a word-cloud made of the words used to describe the gravenstein apple type: Tasty. Sweet. Crisp. Crunchy. Balanced. Juicy. Fresh. Acidic. Balanced. Mellow.
Project Uncorking rural heritage: indigenous production of fermented beverages for local cultural and environmental sustainability !25
Regional Cooperation Magazine
Far-right extremism in the Balkan region: Trends and implications for criminal justice Extremist beliefs leading to violent and terrorist acts remain a severe threat to security in Europe. During 2020, in the Member States of the European Union alone, 57 terrorist attacks were reported, including completed, failed and foiled attempts. Twenty-one people died, and more than four hundred individuals were arrested (Europol, 2021). These individuals imprisoned for terrorist offences and inmates who radicalise in prison pose a threat both during their imprisonment and after release (Europol, 2020). In 2020, at least five terrorist attacks in Europe had the involvement of released convicts or of prisoners at the time they committed the attack. (Europol, 2021). Prison and probation structures have a crucial responsibility in preventing and countering violent extremism. The rehabilitation process of this massive number of radicalised individuals entering the system every year is essential to avoid recidivism once they are released. Even if successful in rehabilitation, proper reintegration into society is essential to avoid future reradicalisation (RAN, 2016). On the other hand, if proper measures are not in place, the prison environment can exacerbate previous vulnerabilities in predisposed inmates and become a hotbed for radicalisation.
Nevertheless, the arduous rehabilitation process for these individuals is an uphill battle, full of difficulties and uncertainties. There is no definitive guide to disengagement and deradicalisation. Each combination of person, beliefs and particular path to extreme viewpoints is unique. Any rehabilitation initiative must holistically approach each case’s specificity and vulnerabilities. If we are to mitigate radicalisation effectively, we need to understand the phenomena in depth. The sources of radicalised viewpoints include diverse positions on different spectrums and ideologies: Jihadist, Right-wing, Left-wing, Anarchist, Ethnonationalist and separatist beliefs, and even State-sponsored terrorism. These different extremist origins have their own characteristics and particularities that experts and practitioners must be aware of and understand. Better knowledge means early identification of radicalisation cases and a subsequent evaluation, disengagement/deradicalisation and reintegration measures adjusted to the subject’s reality.
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Regional Cooperation Magazine
A focus on Far-right – Threats and trends
Far-right extremism in the Balkans and Eastern Europe
Far-right extremist ideology develops from a core of nationalism, white supremacism and neo-fascism, with a strong islamophobic, antisemitic, antiimmigration racist rhetoric and an overall resistance against diversity and equality.
When speaking of far-right trends in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, we must account for the prejudiced mentality already rooted in a substantial portion of its community. There is a present and exploitable discrimination against migrants and even fellow residents of other ethnicities such as the Roma population.
In addition to longstanding active neo-Nazi groups, a growing threat has been identified in self-radicalised suspects of young age, including minors (Europol, 2021). These individuals connect transnationally on online channels and forums of varying degrees of organisation (Europol, 2021). This online presence is standard practice across the board for far-right extremism. One example is the proliferation of online disinformation, which creates a false mirror of the world. Facts are easily distorted, disseminated and assimilated with no confirmation or counterpoint. These virtual spheres create a normalisation of hate speech and intolerance. Another defining characteristic of this type of extremism across Europe is the interest in weapons and paramilitary combat training (Europol, 2021). This trend falls in line with the belief of opposition to “the system” and accelerationist movements that seek the fall of the existing political and social system (Europol, 2021).
In Romania, this overall atmosphere of intolerance is widespread in politics, popular culture and everyday life, legitimising extreme nationalism and discrimination towards selected groups (Cinpoes, 2013). In the last decades, the Roma population and homosexuals have become some of the top targets of prejudice (Turcanu, 2010). In Balkan countries affected by the migration crisis, namely Bulgaria or Slovenia, vigilante groups arose as a reaction to the migrant influx. These organised groups, built under the guise of protection of the population, are based on popular prejudices and fear and can lead to radicalisation and justification of violence (Stoynova & Dzhekova, 2019; EUROPOL 2020). In Slovenia, these anti-migrant far-right groups use social media to recruit members and provide weapon training and military techniques (EUROPOL 2020). Along with the growth of far-right groups, this emergence of paramilitary factions is a security threat for the country (Bulc, 2021; EUROPOL 2020).
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Regional Cooperation Magazine The aforementioned radicalisation of young people in internet groups is a growing concern for Bulgaria (Europol, 2021). Studies suggest that youngsters angry with social inequalities and still developing their identity might be more accepting of nationalist ideas (Mancheva et al., 2015). In Serbia, several factors fuel the far-right: economic hardship, crises of identity and democracy, ethnic conflict, and other historical influences such as the fallout of former Yugoslavia and the close link between the State and Orthodox Church (Klacar et al., 2018). The 2015 European migrant and refugee crises also revived authoritarian and nationalist views in the country (Klacar, 2020).
Besides, the Professor shared practical examples of far-right extremist cases in the targeted region, enveloping trends and concerns identified in the region.
Sharing knowledge among experts and practitioners Uniting European knowledge and efforts, project HOPE wants to improve radicalisation prevention and countering results with a focus on Balkan and Eastern Europe countries. The consortium is developing a growing network that supports continuous training, sharing of information and experience on P/CVE. By bringing together this European network and stimulating their interaction, HOPE expects to improve the overall success of practitioners in P/CVE. These professionals will be able to support their work on an extensive information pool, with established and proven knowledge developed by partnering transnational experts. HOPE’s Transnational Thematic Workshops (TTWs) are a materialisation of this network that approach topics in the project’s field, exploring theoretical and practical content. The third event, out of the eight planned TTWs, gathered over sixty global experts and practitioners to discuss new and established far-right extremist trends. In this event, Professor Miroslav Mareš, an expert in Political Sciences from Czech Republic’s Masaryk University, emphasised the “new face” of farright extremism. Now associated with the stand against COVID-19 restrictions and measures, the movement’s agenda was refreshed and reached new audiences.
Throughout his presentation, Professor Miroslav Mareš provided a comprehensive and integrated analysis of different trends, manifestations and specificities of far-right extremism.
When the “extreme” becomes “normal” Moreover, the normalisation of the far-right rhetoric in Eastern Europe through its growing representation in higher politics is a concern emphasised by Professor Miroslav Mareš. This rise of populist nationalism is taking place across Europe partly benefited from the severe migration crisis of the last years, which has been instrumentalised to instil prejudices and antimigration sentiment. Speaking of the Bulgarian reality, Mois Faion, chairman of the Bulgarian Association for Policy Evaluation (BAPE) and expert on Policy Evaluation and Security, also highlighted the dangers of the normalisation of far-right rhetoric in the country.
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Regional Cooperation Magazine Focusing on the implications of the data presented and discussed for criminal justice, Nadya Stoynova, a specialist in prison and probation radicalisation, stressed the importance of sustained risk assessment and intervention approaches.
As previously indicated, the extremist views prevalent in the country have a particular focus and impact on the Bulgarian Roma community and migrants.
Mois Faion presented worrisome data that emphasises how the majority of the Bulgarian population share anti-Roma and anti-migrant attitudes. A considerable fraction (8-14%) even agrees with violent acts over social minorities.
The role of inter-agency cooperation in radicalisation prevention The radicalised individual’s violent mindset makes continuous risk assessment crucial. However, events such as the transition between prison and probation contexts and the multitude of professional roles involved in the process make the results of P/CVE efforts hard to follow and evaluate. Accompanying these developments is critical to understanding the threat scale and ensuring the adjustment of future radicalisation prevention and countering efforts.
Nadya Stoynova from the Bulgarian Association for Policy Evaluation, provided a thorough overview of the risks of far-right extremism in prison and probation in the Bulgarian reality, focusing on its trends, problems and potentialities.
This BAPE representative underlines that a trustworthy and functional evaluation must comprise data from a continuous effort between prison and probation settings, reinforcing the relevance of inter-agency cooperation. This third Transnational Thematic Workshop was also an opportunity to debate entertainment as a booster for far-right extremism, its risks and intervention potentialities, with a particular focus on the community setting.
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Regional Cooperation Magazine Sentences”, the Bucharest-Jilava Penitentiary (Romania), the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (Serbia) and the Slovenian Probation Administration (Ministry of Justice). For more information about the HOPE project, please visit its website.
The 3rd HOPE TTW named “The far-right in Eastern Europe and the Balkans: Scope of the threat and implications for prison and probation” took place on February 4th, 2022.
In this debate, participants also highlighted the critical role community stakeholders have in facilitating the disengagement of far-right extremism. The discussion led to sharing of some known good practices from NGOs to promote a sustained prison-community continuum.
What is next for HOPE? The last online Transnational Thematic Workshops is set to happen on March 11, 2022 and will discuss multi-agency cooperation in P/CVE. The project consortium hopes to continue engaging a large number of participants and building knowledge on radicalisation prevention as a European network. Hopefully, the last four planned events will be presential and allow for even more substantial involvement between the participants.
References Bulc, G. (2021). Deradicalization and Integration Legal and Policy Framework. Cinpoes, R. (2013). Country analyses: Romania. In R. Melzer & S. Serafin, Right-wing extremism in Europe: Country analyses, counter-strategies and labour-market oriented exit strategies, 169-198, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung: Frankfurt; EUROPOL (2020). European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend report. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. EUROPOL (2021). European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend report. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. Klacar, B. (2020, August 4). Serbia’s Right-Wing Shift Risks Fuelling Extremism. Balkan Insight. https://balkaninsight.com/2020/08/04/serbias-right-wing-shift-risks-fuelling-extremism/ Klacar, B., Čolović, I., Marković, A., & Orestijević, E. (2018). Assessment of Violent Extremism in Serbia. Center for Free Elections and Democracy. https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/ PA00TH7V.pdf Mancheva, R., M., Doichinova, M., Derelieva, L., Bezlov, T., Karayotonva, M., Tomov, Y., Markov, D. & Ilcheva, M. (2015). Radicalisation in Bulgaria: Threats and trends. Center for the Study of Democracy. RAN (2016). Approaches to violent extremist offenders and countering radicalisation in prisons and probation. Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN). https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/ bitstream/handle/1810/271624/ran_pp_approaches_to_violent_extremist_en.pdf?sequence=1 Stoynova, N. & Dzhekova, R. (2019). Vigilantism against ethnic minorities and migrants in Bulgaria. In T. Bjørgo & M. Mareš, Vigilantism against migrants and minorities, pp. 164-182, Routledge: Oxon. Turcanu, F. (2010). Right-wing extremism and its impact on young democracies in the CEEcountries. State, society, NGOs on right-wing extremism in Romania. Paper for the conference “Right-Wing Extremism in CEE-countries. Strategies against Right-wing extremism, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Budapest, 19-November, 2010
Project HOPE - Holistic Radicalisation Prevention Initiative The HOPE Initiative is led by IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (Portugal) in partnership with the University College of Norwegian Correctional Service (Norway), Agenfor International Foundation (Italy), the Euro-Arab Foundation for Advanced Studies (Spain), the Bulgarian Association for Policy Evaluation, the Bulgarian General Directorate “Execution of !30
Regional Cooperation Magazine
Contributors & Credits From the Fund Operators Mateusz Wiśniewski Francesca Bombarda Sara Barbi External Contributors Thomas Mc Grath Department of Public Relations and Marketing for Tirana European Youth Capital 2022, National Youth Congress of Albania Alexander Heichlinger Xavier Tiana From the Projects Kjersti Kildahl Trude Rinaldo Karl Ystanes Marieta Ivanova Inga Retike Erika Zuodar Silvia Bernardo From Youth Employment Found Blue Generation Project YOUTHShare Project Christos Papadopoulos Ioannis Papageorgiou Effie Emmanouil George Chatzichristos Andrew Herod Stelios Gialis Director Gian Luca Bombarda The contents of the Magazine are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Donors. !31
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Cover image: National Youth Congress of Albania born with the intention of sharing the results and updates of the projects participating to the Fund to showcase the main achievements of implemented activities. Follow us: regionalcoopmag.net
Contact us: themag@regionalcoopmag.net
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