The PARTESS-COM project – Participatory approaches to protecting places of worship, schools, and community centres – aims to enhance the security of religious communities and educational institutions across Europe by developing adaptable, inclusive, and cutting-edge security concepts. The project brings together scientific research, digital innovation, and community engagement to promote prevention, preparedness, and resilience in the face of contemporary security threats.
Main Objectives:
- Develop a comprehensive, state-of-the-art knowledge hub for securing places of worship and schools.
- Build capacity within religious and educational communities through EU-wide training, simulations, and tool demonstrations.
- Encourage citizen involvement in security by facilitating incident reporting and awareness through a dedicated app.
- Foster cross-sector collaboration and institutionalized communication among local authorities, religious groups, civil society, and law enforcement.
Key Activities:
- Creation of a digital platform and mobile app integrating best practices, contextual security models, and user-friendly tools for reporting incidents.
- Organisation of targeted training programs, simulations, and demonstrations across Europe.
- Launch of a wide-reaching awareness campaign promoting civic engagement and vigilance around security in faith-based and educational settings.
- Coordination of stakeholder networks to ensure collaborative development and dissemination of security strategies.
Expected Results:
- An operational online knowledge hub and reporting app for use across the EU.
- Enhanced capacity of religious and educational institutions to prevent and respond to threats.
- Increased engagement of citizens in reporting security-relevant incidents.
- Greater sense of safety among community members through participatory security efforts.
Funding: €2,017,976.13 under the ISF-2024-TF2-AG-PROTECT programme.
Partners:
Osterreichisches Intitut fur Internationale Ppolitik (OIIP) / Austria (Coordinator)
SCENOR / Austria
Stichting European Foundation for South Aasian Studies (EFSAS) / Netherlands
Violence Prevention Network (VPN) / Germany
Fundacion Euroarabe de Altos Estudios (FUNDEA) / Spain
Nodibinajums “Latvijas Evangeliski luteriskas Baznicas Diakonijas centrs” (DLV) / Latvia
Kentro Meleton Asfaleias (KEMEA) / Greece
Association Militants des Savoirs (MDS) / France
Enhancing Faith Institutions (EFI) / Ireland
European Strategies Consulting (ESC) / Romania
Ayuntamiento de Murcia (Murcia Police) / Spain
Uniwersytet Lodzki/ Poland
Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) / Italy
Iztochnoevropeyski Forum za Dialog Mostove – BRIDGES / Bulgaria
Dublin City Interfaith Forum Company Limited by Guarantee (DCIF) / Ireland
Erzdiozese Wien / Austria
The European Forum for Urban Security (EFUS) / France
Jüdisches Zentrum Synagoge Fraenkelufer (JZSF) / Germany
Lukasz Lazewski Informatics Spolka Komandytowo-Akcyjna (LLI) / Poland