Projects

The online radicalization of children and youth is a challenge with growing global reach. In today’s digital ecosystem, terrorist and violent extremist actors employ increasingly sophisticated strategies to target younger audiences, while operating within socio-technical environments shaped by algorithms, platform dynamics, and online communities that influence what young people see, how they engage, and how they perceive themselves and others.

 

At the initiative of the Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT) of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the School Dialogues initiative brings together students, educators, local authorities, law enforcement representatives, policymakers, and civil society actors to explore how education and digital resilience can contribute to the prevention of violent extremism and the strengthening of democratic values. It builds upon the longstanding engagement of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in addressing the prevention of radicalization and violent extremism through education, democratic resilience, and media and information literacy. These priorities were reaffirmed in the 2025 Resolution on Preventing Youth Radicalization to Violent Extremism and Terrorism through Education and Media and Information Literacy, adopted during the 32nd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Porto, a resolution informed by the expertise and policy contributions of Cecilia Polizzi, Founding CEO of Next Wave Center, and subsequently operationalized through the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT). Through interactive discussions, facilitated dialogues, and school-based engagements, participants examine issues including online radicalization, disinformation, harmful digital narratives, polarization, and social cohesion. The initiative seeks to empower young people as active contributors to prevention efforts, while generating recommendations and policy reflections to inform institutional responses at the local, national, and international levels.

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Next Wave Center serves as a partner of the initiative, having developed the framework on which all School Dialogues are built. The framework has been implemented and validated across multiple events in OSCE participating states, providing a replicable, evidence-based model for school-based prevention.

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