BERGHOF FOUNDATION OPERATIONS gGMBH

Their core work

Berghof Foundation Operations is a Berlin-based peacebuilding and conflict transformation organisation that designs and implements programs to prevent violent conflict, counter extremism, and build community resilience. Their work spans policy analysis, practitioner training, and multi-stakeholder dialogue processes, bridging academic research with field-level intervention in conflict-affected regions. In the EU research context, they contribute deep expertise in understanding radicalisation pathways, identity-based violence, and the community-level factors that either drive or resist extremism — particularly in the Western Balkans and the MENA region. They translate conflict research into actionable frameworks for governments, civil society, and international organisations working on prevention and peacebuilding.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (WOSCAP, 2015-2017) Berghof operated within a broad whole-of-society conflict prevention framing, with no granular thematic keywords distinguishing their contribution — suggesting a generalist peacebuilding role within a larger consortium. By their second and more recent project (PAVE, 2020-2023), their focus sharpened considerably into the specific domain of violent extremism and radicalisation, with explicit geographic anchoring in the Balkans and MENA and a clear emphasis on ideology, identity, and narrative as analytical lenses. The trajectory points toward increasing specialisation in counter-extremism and community resilience, consistent with where European security research funding has been concentrating.

Berghof is moving from broad peacebuilding generalism toward specialised expertise in preventing violent extremism and radicalisation, with a strong geographic focus on the Balkans and MENA — areas where EU security funding is expected to remain active.

How they like to work

Berghof has demonstrated both partnership and coordination roles across their two projects, suggesting they are comfortable leading consortia as well as contributing as a specialist. Their coordination of PAVE — a multi-country, multi-stakeholder research and training project — indicates organisational capacity for project management and reporting, not just research delivery. With 21 unique partners across 18 countries in only two projects, they clearly work in large, geographically diverse consortia rather than tight bilateral arrangements.

Despite only two H2020 projects, Berghof has built a notably wide network of 21 unique consortium partners spread across 18 countries, reflecting their position as a connector between European institutions, Balkan civil society, and MENA research actors. Their network is geographically broad but thematically coherent around peace, security, and governance.

What sets them apart

Berghof Foundation Operations occupies a rare niche as a research-operational hybrid: they produce academic-grade analysis of radicalisation and conflict while simultaneously implementing training and dialogue programs on the ground in fragile contexts. Unlike university research groups, they bring practitioner networks and field access in the Western Balkans and MENA that are difficult for academic partners to replicate. For consortia building projects at the intersection of EU security policy and civil society programming, they offer both analytical credibility and implementation legitimacy.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PAVE
  Their largest project and the one where they served as coordinator, PAVE is notable for tackling violent extremism prevention in two of the EU's most strategically sensitive regions — the Balkans and MENA — through a community resilience lens rather than a purely law-enforcement frame.
• WOSCAP
  An earlier whole-of-society peacebuilding project that established Berghof's presence in EU-funded security research, providing the foundation for their later role as a project coordinator.