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CORDIS

ANTICIPATING AND COUNTERING FLUID CRIMINAL AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM

Objective

The threat posed to liberal democratic societies by criminal and violent extremism is undergoing a profound transformation. Decentralised manifestations blur boundaries with other forms of harm and serious criminality – such as child sexual exploitation (CSE), sextortion, animal abuse, and suicide. They confound ideological nomenclatures – Right-Wing, Left-Wing, Islamist – and escalate violence through the promotion of normative systems such as ‘hurtcore’, the glorification of gore, and the exaltation of sadism. A particularly urgent concern is the involvement of children and young people – as perpetrators or victims; sometimes both – ensnared by grooming structures akin to human trafficking.

This Fluid Criminal Extremism (FCE) is a challenge to counter-terrorism paradigms adopted after 9/11. Not only are risk assessment frameworks and interventions ill-adapted to the threat, but the operations and organisational structures of the P/CVE apparatus appear increasingly misaligned against movements that straddle ideological silos and individuals who present with non-ideological motivations yet carry out attacks with all the hallmarks of violent extremism or terrorism.

Under current legal frameworks, violence must be ideologically motivated to be classified as terrorism. However, FCE blurs the boundaries between terrorism, organised crime, and online harms. As a result, it can fall outside the remit of counterterrorism agencies, leaving gaps in prevention and detection. In other words, it is not only social technologies which need to be adapted to today’s fluid extremist landscape, but the organisational readiness level of the problem-owners themselves.

ONLIVES is wholly driven by the needs of organisations faced with the rise of FCE, which includes the recently labelled Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE). The ONLIVES Consortium involves partners who are themselves problem-owners, ensuring those closest to the challenge drive the project’s design and specific objectives. ONLIVES brings together policymakers, police authorities, civil society organisations, frontline practitioners and field-leading researchers, leveraging collaborative foresight methods to bring about the step-change required to not only counter FCE but anticipate future evolutions.

ONLIVES produces new concepts, analytical frameworks, evidence, and social technologies to counter FCE, all in support of raising the readiness level of organisations on the frontlines. It delivers a reliable diagnosis of organisational needs and dismantles barriers to adaptation. It challenges outdated taxonomies, pulls down silos between categories of harm, and integrates communities of practice. Central to these aims is a systematic futures-oriented approach. ONLIVES is anchored in foresight activities led by strategically positioned security partners and informed by custom-designed scientific evidence produced by the research partners, providing a corpus of knowledge beyond the state of the art.

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Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL3-2025-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Net EU contribution
€ 955 848,50
Address
GOWER STREET
WC1E 6BT London
United Kingdom
Region
London Inner London — West Camden and City of London
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost
€ 955 848,50

Participants (8)

Partners (1)