Three Quebec universities launch UNESCO anti-radicalization chair

Quebec’s new UNESCO chair on the prevention of radicalization and violent extremism is being described as the first of its kind in the world.

“What is unique in the world is a UNESCO chair that’s tripartite — that brings together three universities that signed the agreement with UNESCO — but beyond that, it’s the gathering of national and international part- ners that are coming together to share their expertise,” co-director David Morin, a professor at Université de Sherbrooke, said after the Friday launch of the project in Sherbrooke.

Joining him at the research centre are professors from Concordia University and Université du Québec a Montréal as well as a scientific director based at Université de Sherbrooke.

Morin said the chair’s mission is to create a “pole of excellence” that will bring together experts in both research and field work.

“(The goal) is to be able to develop programs, to evaluate them and to support the political decision-makers and the stakeholders in the field on the subject of prevention of radicalization,” said Morin.

Quebec has pledged $100,000 a year for the next four years.

Concordia-based co-chair Vivek Venkatesh said the centre’s activities will include providing training to people who work in marginalized communities and creating public engagement tools to counter hate speech and violent propaganda.

The secretary general of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO praised the chair and its governance model.

“We look forward to working with the chair to counter the rise of radicalization and violent extremism in Canada and the world,” Sebastien Goupil said in a statement.