BACKGROUND:The culture of communications is changing at a rapid pace, driven by the power of internet and social networks. As a result, users are encouraged to create personal echo-chambers at the expense of information pluralism and to move away from ethically informed journalistic accounts. It is, therefore, high time to encourage and empower spokespersons and journalists to get out of information bubbles, critically address the fake news phenomenon and develop responsible and accountable communication patterns and behaviors in the relationship with their audience. To achieve these objectives, CRESCEnt developed a 35 months collaborative endeavor for development of skills and competences related to ethical communication.OBJECTIVES:CRESCEnt aimed to capacitate spokespersons, journalists and communication specialists to use media reporting consciously and ethically. The intellectual outputs have the capacity to teach them to handle and become resilient to fake news, to build an ethics of reporting in texts, contexts, pictures and images, to perform double fact checking and how to provide and obey ethical grounds in handling sources, reporting terrorism, extremist violence and hate speech, the refugee crisis, insider leaks and truth telling for the preservation of democracy, individual freedom of expression and fundamental rights, as well as the rule of law. CRESCEnt approached a cross-sectorial media and strategic communication learning process and a guidelines aimed to change the way spokespersons and journalists in the security field understand and report security threats. CRESCEnt AIMS: (1) to develop a toolkit of techniques, methods and instruments for institutional spokespersons and journalists who communicate on issues related to security and law enforcement, as support in their professional activity; (2) to enhance through learning activities key-competences and skills of the spokespersons and journalists so that they become resilient to fake news, build an ethics of reporting, perform double fact checking, provide and obey ethical grounds in handling sources, report security threats and handle truth for the preservation of democracy and the rule of law. NUMBER & PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS: The targeted profile included institutional spokespersons and communicators, journalists accredited in reporting on security issues, students in journalism and communication management. The project activities were pursued by:- 57 on-site and 68 online attendees to the three Multiplier events organized similarly in Romania, Greece and Spain;- 15 participants to the short-term joint staff training event organized virtually;- 197 learners from the partner institutions and other 12 representatives of external organizations who pursued the virtual learning activities; - 1021 enrolled persons to the online course, out of which 404 completed the course; - 100% of the participants part of the target groups;- 409 subscribers to the newsletter.ACTIVITIES:The project included:- 1 short-term joint staff training event, ensuring the transfer of skills and knowledge to the practitioners from the partners’ organizations;- 3 virtual learning activities, organized with selected learners from the target groups, aiming to introduce practitioners into a new framework for delivering communication in relation to security, prevention and counteraction of criminal acts and innovative training approaches, materials and case studies;- 3 edition of lectures online (the MOOC), addressing the challenge of building awareness and developing resilience to disinformation, fake news, and hostile information influencing campaigns.RESULTS and IMPACT:The project resulted with 3 intellectual outputs:- a guidelines (IO1), which consists in a practical and innovative toolkit which acts as an instrument for efficiently managing public reporting in case of security threats and sensitive issues; IO1 has the capacity to empower spokespersons and journalists to use media reporting consciously and ethically.- a syllabus (IO2), which contains the instructional design and the structure of the learning activity; It facilitates the right premises for a strategic European partnership aimed at consolidating critical thinking and responsible reaction in the communication process.- the MOOC and open educational resources (OERs), which represents a 30-hour training module; the OERs may contribute to increasing the stock of educational digital content available through open access, and allow to extend the formative possibilities of the students and reach a greater number of institutional spokespersons, media professionals, and young journalists.BENEFITS:The results are freely accessible at https://crescentproject.eu/ and the MOOC will be available for future editions.

The issue of violent extremist and radicalisation poses a challenge not only to the states’ security but also to fundamental values that lie at the heart of the European Union: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Radicalisation in prison and probation environments is a paramount point of concern. Firstly, people who are sentenced for terrorist acts end up in prison. A part of them will remain hardboiled and are determined to be faithful to their ideology, while others might want to quit their radical activities or want to stop being a member of a radicalized group. A third group are prisoners who are at risk of being recruited and get radicalised during imprisonment. Prison and probation services are, therefore, primary agencies in fostering exit strategies that can help radicals disengage and de-radicalise. The supporting role of the wider community, particularly in the often-difficult transition from prison to release, is vital in this de-radicalisation process. INTEGRA “Integrated community, probation and prison services radicalisation prevention approach” strives to improve the transition process between prison and/or probation systems and the community for those at risk of radicalisation or who have been radicalised. It attempts to achieve this outcome by promoting a holistic radicalisation prevention initiative focusing on skills development of offenders, front line staff and organisations. The project's specific achieved goals are : • To upscale existing practices and understand their role for a holistic prevention of radicalisation and disengagement /de-radicalisation, • To develop a skills-enhancement programme for frontline staff working with inmates throughout its transition back into society, including prison and probation staff, and community organisations working closely with the prison services; • To establish a local mentorship model to support ex-radicals upon release and their families; • To ensure knowledge sharing and collaboration among the relevant authorities and organisations regarding people vulnerable to radicalisation or who have been radicalised, who are in prison and on their release. INTEGRA partnership achieved these goals by developing a State of the Art Analysis and best practices review (IO1), followed by the Needs and Radicalisation Risk Assessment (IO2). Radicalisation prevention training programme for prisons, probation and community as a mentoring model and programme (IO3), a E-learning course and a train the trainer course (IOs 4, 5 and 6).A Multi-agency cooperation guide with policy recommendations for the effective implementation and follow-up of de-radicalisation/ disengagement/ rehabilitation programmes (IO7) The project gathered direct participation of more than 500 persons (less than 850 persons as expected in the begining of the projects mainly because off the the withdrawal of University of Brescia (Italy) midway through the project’s lifespan, as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and such as the lockdown, social distancing and barrier measures).This direct paticipation included: a) 170 stakeholders in the desk & field research: • 10 conducted interviews; • 10 conducted focus groups and; • around 80 questionnaires applied to prison governors; b) 35 mentors(the initial number changed after the withdrawal of the University of Brescia as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic). c) 252 prison, probation and community organisations’ practitioners from 4 countries (the initial number changed after the withdrawal of the University of Brescia as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic). • 97 trainees in the E-learning piloting team • 155 participants in the short term joint staff training events; d) 28 trainees in the Train the trainer course;(the initial number changed after the withdrawal of the University of Brescia as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic). e) at least 200 participants in the multiplier events: A total 65 participants in national seminars taking into consideration that the national seminars initial number was affected by the difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (one seminar per country with end-users), plus almost more than 90 participants in the final international seminar. INTEGRA’s impact has : -increased awareness about radicalisation and extremism that lead to terrorism in detention environments (national and EU levels); -improved understanding about detecting “red flags” of violent radicalisation and about the prevention and detection mechanisms currently in place in Europe through real-life case studies; -provided better capacity to deal with detainees at risk of radicalisation or already radicalised by receiving training where they will gain new knowledge and tools useful for everyday challenges;- increased awareness and capacity of community service providers to deal with ex-offenders deemed vulnerable to radicalisation and/or ex-radicals along their reintegration process; -increased knowledge about the mentoring schemes as a tool for social support of ex-radicals or previously identified inmates vulnerable to radical messages upon release and their families; -improved multi-agency cooperation and planning for release, by providing prison and probation systems with the tools that allow them to analyse the existing networks, information gathering and communication processes between different agencies (prison-probation-police-intelligence services-community services).