INDEED will bring together researchers from across Europe and different disciplinary backgrounds for the research forum ‘evidence-based evaluation in theory and practice: approaches, methods and tools’. The event will take place on 24 May 2022 at the University Foundation in Brussels.

The draft agenda of this 1-day event is available HERE.

Event concept

At the INDEED research forum, INDEED partners and invited academic experts will discuss ways to strengthen an evidence-based approach to preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). The discussion will be organized around four sessions, each of which addresses a set of key questions:

Session 1: Setting the scene: Evidence-based approaches across academic disciplines

The first session of the forum will take stock of the evidence-based movement across academic disciplines, and discuss relevant challenges to the implementation of evidence-based practices. Key questions addressed in this session include:

• What are/should be the key principles and features of evidence-based practice?
• What are key challenges to the implementation of evidence-based practice? How can relevant challenges be overcome?
• What counts/ should count as evidence? What are appropriate approaches/methods/tools for establishing an “evidence base”?

Session 2: Taking stock: Advances and challenges in evidence-based P/CVE and Deradicalization

The second session of the forum will focus on the application of evidence-based approaches to the field of P/CVE and Deradicalization, and discuss relevant challenges to their implementation. Key questions addressed in this session include:

• To what extent and in what form have evidence-based approaches been applied to the field of P/CVE and Deradicalization?
• What should an evidence-based approach to P/CVE and Deradicalization look like? Which should be its key components?
• What are the most important hurdles for the implementation of an evidence-based approach in P/CVE and Deradicalization? How can these be addressed?

Session 3: Moving Ahead: Strengthening evidence-based practice

In its third session, the forum will discuss different approaches, methods and tools to strengthen evidence-based practices. Central questions addressed in this session include:

• Which approaches, methods or tools may be used to strengthen the “evidence base” in P/CVE, Deradicalization and other areas of crime prevention?
• Which role should first-line practitioners and policy makers play in the creation of “evidence”?
• Which approaches, methods and tools can be used to strengthen the dissemination and utilization of “best available evidence”?

Session 4: Towards an evidence-based approach to evaluation in P/CVE and Deradicalization

The final session of the forum will zoom in on the design and implementation of evaluations, and discuss how evaluations of programmes and initiatives can best serve to realize an evidence-based approach to P/CVE and Deradicalization. Key questions addressed in this session include:

• Which approaches, methods and tools for the evaluation of programmes and initiatives should be promoted and applied more extensively to strengthen an evidence-based approach to P/CVE and Deradicalization?
• How can evaluation results be more systematically collected and synthesized? How can they best feed into the creation of an “evidence base”?
• How can “evidence” produced by the evaluation of programmes and initiatives be more effectively communicated to and utilized by first-line practitioners and policy makers?

The results of the forum discussions will feed into INDEED’s development of a multi-disciplinary review of evidence-based practice, and its creation of an evidence-based evaluation model, a tool aimed at strengthening evidence-based practices in the field of P/CVE and Deradicalization.

Audience

The event is primarily aimed at scientific and research institutions. The number of places is limited. Due to the restricted space, the event is by invitation only.