Janusz Biene-Clément is based in Osnabrück (Germany) and works as a project manager at the civil society organization Vereinigung Pestalozzi. Currently, he heads two projects in the field of preventing violent extremism (PVE) in Germany. The first is concerned with fostering multi-agency cooperation. The second centers on monitoring and evaluation. Both projects are part of the “Legato” project network. From 2016 to 2019, Janusz worked on the municipal level as the project coordinator of the regional PVE project “Pro Prävention” for the district of Offenbach (Hesse, Germany). Beforehand, he worked as a researcher at the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Janusz studied Political Science and Communication Science at RWTH Aachen and Peace and Conflict Studies at the Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

Dr Gareth Harris is an independent researcher/facilitator based in the UK, affiliated to the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University. His research focuses on the local dynamics of extreme right wing and anti-minority (AM) mobilisation and community-based initiatives to counter extremism. He is currently the lead facilitator of the Special Interest Group on Counter-Extremism (SIGCE) a local authority (LA) peer-to-peer network funded by the Local Government Association which aims to promote knowledge exchange among UK local authorities on extremism. He has strong interests in initiatives designed to enhance community capacity against extremism, methods to turn shared knowledge and experiences into practice, gendered perspectives on extremism, and the impact of the digital world on the XRW landscape.

Current projects include: two community empowerment and dialogue projects, the delivery of workshops helping public bodies respond to extremist activity, support to LAs experiencing AM activity around asylum settlement, and the development of learning materials to build awareness of XRW activity. He has recently completed an international research project looking at the pathways towards and away from violence during AM protest which can be found here. Previous work on the local dynamics of anti-minority mobilisation can be found here and here. Based on his research he regularly advises and presents to policy makers, local authorities, practitioners and civil society groups. He currently sits on the Academic Practitioner Network for the Commission for Counter Extremism and the Eastern Region Counter Terrorism Advisory Group.

Liesbeth van der Heide is a researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), Leiden University since 2011. She also works as a Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) where she coordinates ICCT’s activities in the field of (counter-) terrorism in prison.

Currently she is working on a project that focuses on prisons in North-Africa and South East Asia and includes implementing threat and risk assessment measures to identify and assess violent extremism.

Her fields of interest are: terrorism and stability in the Sahel (Mali); the overlap and fusion of (non)violent jihadist, separatist and rebel movements; (de)radicalisation and reintegration; and effective counter-terrorism. She currently coordinates a two-year research project for the National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism and Security (NCTV) regarding the effectiveness of the reintegration of terrorists in the Netherlands. She teaches Master-level courses on Security and Intelligence and Security and the Rule of Law. Previously she managed several research projects, including research for the Dutch National Police on lone actor terrorism; research for the General Intelligence and Security Service in the Netherlands regarding a fear-management based approach to counter-terrorism; a research project for the Ministry of Security and Justice on the integrity-crime nexus. In 2013 she was a Research Fellow at the Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law. She is a member of the Dutch Flemish Network for Radicalization and Terrorism Research.

Dr. Daniela Pisoiu is senior researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs – oiip. Her fields of research are: terrorism, radicalisation, extremism, comparative regional security, American and European foreign and security policy. She completed her PhD at the University of St Andrews, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence and has conducted fieldwork on the topic of radicalisation in Austria, Germany and France, as well as other European countries.

Dr Jessica White is a Senior Research Fellow in the Terrorism and Conflict group at the Royal United Services Institute in London. Her research focuses on gender mainstreaming strategies for countering terrorism and violent extremism policy and programming, including her recently published book Gender Mainstreaming in Counter-Terrorism Policy. She has over a decade’s worth of experience, as a researcher and security practitioner, with a prior career in the United States Navy. Jessica has also acted as a Gender Advisor on multiple projects, including for the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Emily Winterbotham is the Director of the Terrorism and Conflict research group at RUSI.  Emily’s research focuses on terrorism and counter terrorism, including preventing violent extremism, and international interventions in conflict and fragile states. The T&C research group encompasses teams in London, Brussels, and Nairobi and delivers research, advisory services, training and monitoring and evaluation services in the fields of Counter Terrorism and Conflict.

Emily brings around 15 years of desk and field experience in an international policymaking environment. This includes over a decade of working in and on conflict, particularly in Afghanistan. In 2017 she was seconded by the UK Government to the Commonwealth Secretariat to establish the new CVE Unit. Between 2009 and 2015 she worked in Afghanistan, including as Political Adviser for the European Union Special Representative. Emily is also a Deployable Civilian Expert for the UK Government’s Stabilisation Unit.

Emily is the co- author of Countering Violent Extremism: Making Gender Matter (London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020) and Conflict, Violent Extremism and Development: New Challenges, New Responses (London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

Violence Prevention Network is a practitioner organisation with over 20 years of professional experience in prevention and deradicalisation of right-wing extremism and Islamist extremism. Being one of the first organisations in Europe to focus their interventions on deradicalisation and exit work, Violence Prevention Network has acquired internationally recognised expertise for P/CVE measures inside and outside of prison. Violence Prevention Network has been involved in the development of many multi-agency networks across Germany, and has focused on their improvement in international projects (e.g. EMMA, PREPARE). To improve collaboration and communication in disengagement and rehablitation of (violent) extremist offenders, Violence Prevention Network and modus|zad have pioneered new case management and assessment frameworks, which will directly benefit the icommit project. Violence Prevention Network Staff have been active members of RAN since its inception, and have supported the network in various capacities (e.g. Exit WG co-chair). As of 2020, Violence Prevention Network is a consortium member under the new RAN FWC.

modus | zad is the Berlin-based Centre for Applied Research on Deradicalisation. The organisation aims to support practical P/CVE through innovative research designs linking academia, practice, and policy making. The organisation has conducted pilot projects developing train-the-trainer modules for various P/CVE stakeholders, project evaluations, and innovative empirical social research to improve practitioners’ understanding of deradicalisation and rehablitation processes. By combining these elements, modus will be able to guide the development of the diagnostics toolkit and training course, grounded in both research and detailed understanding of the practical needs of practitioners in disengagement and rehabilitation.

Created in 1987 under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the European Forum for Urban Security is the only European network of local and regional authorities that is dedicated to urban security. While Efus works in all fields of urban security policy, P/CVE has become a key priority for the network. Efus has led six European cooperation projects on this subject and contributes to many others. Promoting a strategic approach to urban security, Efus emphasises the significant role of local authorities in P/CVE. Efus contributed to key policy documents such as the Aarhus declaration, the Rotterdam declaration, the Nice declaration, the Efus’ Manifesto, and published 2 guidebooks (2016&2017) for providing practical information and recommendations on P/CVE at the local level.

The University of Bucharest with lead researcher Prof. Dr. Ioan Durnescu have thorough P/CVE research, evaluation, training and project experience, specifically related to risk assessment. He was co-leader of the RAN Prison and Probation Working group and is now the co-leader of the Rehabilitation Working group. Additionally, Prof. Dr. Ioan Durnescu conducted several evaluation or impact studies for different programmes run in the Romanian prison system and has long-standing teaching experience e.g. with EuroPris, CEP and the EFRJ.