RAN Policy Support was launched in January 2021 by the European Commission as a new strand of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN).
It supports the Commission to facilitate exchanges among policy-makers across the EU. In particular, by implementing key policy priorities at EU level. These include:
- EU Security Union Strategy
- EU Counter-Terrorism Agenda
- yearly Strategic Orientations on a coordinated EU approach to the prevention of radicalisation adopted by the EU Member States
EU Member States benefit from RAN Policy Support services to bolster preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) policy-making within an open and evidence-based framework.
Members of RAN Policy Support
RAN Policy Support gathers members from both the public and private sector, think tanks, academia, and civil society organisations to provide policy-makers with the best available information and analysis on P/CVE and related topics.
To support these policy-makers, RAN Policy Support brings together a wide community of EU researchers as well as extra-EU research institutes and networks active in P/CVE. This large network enables the exchange of more information and complementary research findings, with the goal of effectively informing the policy-making process within the EU and beyond.
Main activities and areas of work
RAN Policy Support is committed to informing policy-makers with evidence-based data and analysis in priority areas defined by Member States, such as:
- violent extremist ideologies (both online and offline)
- polarisation in local communities
- the management of foreign terrorist fighters and their families
- radicalisation in prisons
- rehabilitation of ex-offenders
This entails the following knowledge-generating and capacity-building activities:
- ad-hoc papers and consolidated overviews
- training programmes and study visits
- workshops and thematic research events
- strategic communication in critical P/CVE areas
RAN Policy Support manages a restricted collaborative platform for policymakers and researchers with details of the above described activities.
Other resources, including an e-library and the EU research community on radicalisation, reinforce and foster interdisciplinary partnerships and exchanges among its members.
The EC Research e-Library on Radicalisation is a searchable online database of research on the topic of radicalisation and/or relevant to the prevention of radicalisation. It should work towards the two aims of strengthening researcher exchange and facilitating/increasing researcher-policymaker interactions.