Europe has for many years been confronted by various extremist movements whose magnitude, media presence and level of priority in the political agenda vary across time. Such movements have both international and local dimensions and impacts. Underlying them and amplified by social media, polarisation is a threat that concerns local and regional authorities.

In order to efficiently prevent such phenomena from drifting into violence, local governments seek to understand how ‘us and them’ thinking, social divisions and hostility are gaining ground in local communities, and how they can efficiently act to curb such extremist dynamics, build bridges and strengthen social cohesion.

In a resolution published in 2016, Efus called for local prevention of radicalisation leading to violent extremism.

> Recommendations from the 2025 Security, Democracy and Cities manifesto

> Reports from the 2024 Security, Democracy and Cities conference
– Polarisation and prevention of radicalisation leading to violent extremism
– How to understand and prevent hate, extremism, and disinformation online

European cooperation projects

• INDEED
• icommit
• IcARUS
• BRIDGE (2019-2021)
• LOUD (2019-2021)
• PRACTICIES (2017-2020)
• PREPARE (Preventing Radicalisation Through Probation and Release) (2017–2019)
• Local Voices (Local Communication Strategies to Prevent Extremism) (2017–2018)
• LIAISE I and II (Local Institutions Against Extremism) (2014–2017)
• Efus was a partner in the BOUNCE project on resilience tools (2013–2015) led by the Belgian Ministry of the Interior

> Positioning 

In its 2025 Security, Democracy and Cities manifesto, Efus stresses the key role of local and regional authorities in preventing and mitigating radicalisation that may lead to violence, and calls for integrating the prevention of radicalisation into broader security policies, as its risk factors often overlap with those leading to crime. Effective prevention strategies must be locally tailored, based on evidence, and involve comprehensive diagnoses of vulnerabilities, resilience factors, and available resources. Efus calls for involving local communities in shaping and implementing national policies, and to base local prevention policies on wide partnerships between local authorities, law enforcement, social services, education, and healthcare.