Revontulet at Megaweek
Canada’s cultural capital, Montreal is home to vibrant communities that celebrate diversity while still honoring what makes them unique. This May, Revontulet was pleased to exhibit some of our recent work at the 2024 Canada Centre on Countering Radicalization to Violence’s Megaweek conference, where 400 academics, government experts, tech leaders, and frontline practitioners from 20 countries came together to discuss how to keep our communities safe.
Revontulet was eager to participate in the Ideas Fair and present our work directly relating to the conference's principal theme, “Local Responses to Global Pressures.” This subject is a thread that has tied together much of Revontulet’s recent efforts, particularly as we’ve worked with local partners to map the Canadian threat landscape.
Our innovative approach and the tools we use to map networks of harmful actors and organizations was well received by conference participants.
Key trends and takeaways from the conference include:
A significant upsurge in Islamophobic and Antisemitic hate since October 2023, adding to already-rising hate crime statistics in countries like Canada
An increase in gender-driven hate and violent extremism
Increasing arrests and attacks linked to groups like Daesh / ISIS
Rising concerns about the involvement and abuse of children and minors in violent extremism
How online contribution to facilitating radicalization and violent extremism continues to grow
The challenges that specialized Countering Radicalization to Violence/Countering Violent Extremism (CRV/CVE) practitioners face are becoming more clear. On one hand, it is increasingly difficult to reach the vulnerable and at-risk online. However, developing the capacity to work in rural/remote areas, as well as manage community-level tensions, also comes with roadblocks. Furthermore, generalists from sectors like health, education, social services, and policing are also struggling to adapt to new challenges, given limited experience and training in how to address extreme expressions of grievance, polarization, and hate that may lead to violent extremism.
The Megaweek conference created many bridges for Revoltulet and fellow participants to continue to find solutions to these challenges together, and we are thrilled about the opportunities that lie ahead.
We’re filled with immense gratitude and appreciation for the Canada Centre and its team for an incredible five days — in particular, we would like to acknowledge the efforts and dedication of the team who made this event a success. We look forward to continuing this collaboration and building on the momentum generated by this conference.
