DRIVE · Project

Toolkits and Training to Help Cities Prevent Extremism Through Social Inclusion

otherTestedTRL 5Thin data (2/5)

Imagine two rival groups in a city — far-right extremists and radical Islamists — actually making each other worse, like a feedback loop of anger. DRIVE studied how this happens across cities in five north-western European countries. They looked at the real-life conditions — inequality, alienation, identity struggles — that push vulnerable people toward extremism. Then they built practical toolkits and training programs so local authorities and community workers can intervene earlier and smarter.

By the numbers

Countries covered in comparative research (DK, NL, NO, SE, UK)

Consortium partners across north-western Europe

Total project deliverables produced

Universities contributing research expertise

The business problem

What needed solving

Cities across Europe face rising extremism from both far-right groups and radical Islamists, but most prevention programs treat these as separate threats. Local authorities and community organizations lack diagnostic tools that account for how these movements reinforce each other in the same neighborhoods, making current interventions incomplete and often ineffective.

The solution

What was built

The project produced practitioner toolkits (a generic European version plus tailored national versions for 5 countries), training materials with intervention design guidance, a diagnostics matrix for assessing radicalisation factors, and delivered training workshops for end-users in each case study country.

Audience

Who needs this

Counter-extremism security consultancies advising governmentsMunicipal community safety and social cohesion departmentsNGOs running youth radicalisation prevention programsPolice training academies updating de-radicalisation curriculaUrban policy think tanks working on social inclusion

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Security consulting

SME

Target: Counter-extremism and public safety consultancies advising national or municipal governments

If you are a security consultancy advising governments on counter-extremism strategy — this project developed practitioner toolkits with both a generic European version and tailored national versions for each of the 5 case study countries. These toolkits translate 3.5 years of comparative research into actionable diagnostic tools your consultants can deploy immediately when assessing radicalisation risks in urban areas.

Public sector and local government

enterprise

Target: Municipal safety departments and urban policy offices in European cities

If you run a city's community safety or social cohesion department — this project produced training materials and a diagnostics matrix that maps both individual and structural factors behind radicalisation. Training workshops were delivered in each case study country, giving you a tested approach to identify at-risk communities and design inclusion-based interventions rather than purely enforcement-driven responses.

Education and social work

any

Target: NGOs and training providers working with at-risk youth and community resilience programs

If you are a training provider or NGO working on youth radicalisation prevention — this project created training manuals and guidance for testing intervention designs, delivered across 5 countries. The materials cover both far-right and Islamist radicalisation pathways, so your programs can address the full spectrum of extremism rather than treating them as separate problems.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to access the DRIVE toolkits and training materials?

Based on available project data, the practitioner toolkits and training materials were developed as publicly funded research outputs under Horizon 2020. Pricing for commercial use or licensing is not specified in the data. Contact the coordinator at Universiteit Leiden for access terms.

Can these tools be scaled to other European countries beyond the original 5?

The project produced both a generic European toolkit and tailored national versions for each case study country (Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK). The generic version is designed for broader European application, though national adaptation would likely require local expertise. The consortium of 9 partners across 5 countries provides a tested adaptation methodology.

Who owns the intellectual property for these toolkits?

As a Horizon 2020 RIA project coordinated by Universiteit Leiden, IP rights are governed by the EU grant agreement. Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not detailed in the deliverable descriptions. Contact the coordinator for IP and licensing arrangements.

How were these tools validated in practice?

Training workshops were delivered in each case study country to a range of end-users to explain the tools, promote their adoption, and train practitioners in their use. A major conference in Brussels brought together academics, policy makers, and practitioners from multiple EU countries to disseminate findings.

What makes this different from existing counter-extremism programs?

DRIVE specifically studied how far-right and Islamist extremism feed off each other in the same urban areas — a gap no previous European comparative study had addressed. The toolkits incorporate this reciprocal radicalisation dimension alongside social inclusion factors, giving practitioners a more complete picture than single-threat approaches.

What is the timeline from first contact to deploying these tools?

The training materials and toolkits were finalized by month 34-35 of the project, and training workshops were already delivered in case study countries. Based on available project data, an organization could begin using the generic European toolkit relatively quickly, while national tailoring would require additional adaptation time.

Consortium

Who built it

The 9-partner consortium is heavily academic, with 7 universities and only 1 industry partner (11% industry ratio). This is typical for social science research but means commercial translation may require external partners. Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands leads coordination. The 5-country spread across Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK provides strong north-western European coverage but leaves gaps in southern and eastern Europe. With only 1 SME in the consortium, businesses looking to commercialize these tools would likely need to engage the academic partners directly.

UNIVERSITEIT LEIDENCoordinator · NL
AARHUS UNIVERSITETparticipant · DK
THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGEparticipant · UK
UMEA UNIVERSITETparticipant · SE
UNIVERSITETET I OSLOparticipant · NO
THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOLparticipant · UK
SYKEHUSET INNLANDET HFparticipant · NO

How to reach the team

Universiteit Leiden (Netherlands) — search for DRIVE project coordinator on the university's Institute of Security and Global Affairs page

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSITEIT LEIDEN profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to deploy radicalisation prevention toolkits in your city or organization? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the DRIVE research team and help adapt the tools to your context.

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