Photo: arendalsuka/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Arendalsuka is the largest political gathering in Norway held annually since 2012, and is a result of co-creation between national and local political parties, NGO’s, universities, research institutions, private companies and the Municipality of Arendal. The aim is to lower the threshold for political participation and inspire civic engagement by creating a politically independent forum where everyday citizens meet political leaders, business leaders, entrepreneurs, governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) and the media. The event’s mission is clear: strengthen the belief in political empowerment and democracy through open debate and involvement.
On 17 August, PREVEX is organising an event titled “Most people do not get radicalised” (Folk flest radikaliseres ikke), shedding light on various factors influencing different communities’ resilience against radicalisation and violent extremism. PREVEX-researchers Morten Bøås (PI and Professor) and Kari Osland (Senior Researcher, NUPI) will participate in the discussion.
Different societies have different degrees of what we call a ‘radicalisation-promoting environment’. Specific socio-economic factors are present in these environments, such as high unemployment, scarcity of resources and few or no opportunities for social mobility. However, there are still large differences locally. Some communities are more susceptible to radicalisation and violent extremism, while others show significantly greater resilience. In some cases we can trace this back to a successful intervention, while in other cases there are examples of local communities showing significant resilience without external intervention.
In 2021 – 954 organizers produced 1165 events and there were 134 exhibition stands in the centre of Arendal. We look forward to interesting debates and discussions at this year’s Arendalsuka!
Read more about Arendalsuka here and about the PREVEX event here.
