1.Anti Radicalization project: Connect me
The anti-radicalisation project named CONNECT ME is a joint project of the Impact Institute ( For Research, Innovation & Policy Analysis) and the Dalarna region . It was initiated in 2014 to bring together strategic leaders, practitioners addressing issues related to violent radicalisation and extremism with young people. The Project has initiated a conference series that has brought together various stakeholders and concerned groups in Sweden and abroad for initial discussions and the identification of future work streams. Finally the project was concluded to help evaluators, policy-makers, frontline workers and academics answer three questions:Effectiveness: How effective are various programmes at tackling violent radicalisation and extremism? Good practice: What is evidence-based practice in tackling violent radicalisation and extremism? Knowledge & understanding: How does this inform our knowledge and understanding of violent radicalisation and extremism?
2.Strategies and social entrepreneurship for inclusion of disadvantaged women in labour market by Ludvika municipality
The project intends to contribute to the implementation of the strategy for the achievement of the objectives set by region Dalarna 2015 in education, employment and social inclusion of women in Sweden . The target group were women in situation or at risk of social exclusion; particularly women of the new comers to Sweden , whose rate of employment and qualification are very low. The project has proven to be an important and effective tool for development and social inclusion of these disadvantaged groups in the region. Moreover, the project received an excellent evaluation (99%) and is now considered as “best practice implemented by Impact Institute. The aim of the project was basically to promote, compare and disseminate contacts, best practices, methodologies used in the EU for the inclusion of disadvantaged people among public and private social organizations.
3. The After School Project- A joint Project of Impact Institute & the Swedish National Agency for Education.
After school education project was initiated by Impact Institute and the Swedish National Agency for Education to help more young people living in areas of low economic communities. The duration of the project was one year aimed at providing free classes for young children after school. The project was implemented by students associations, red cross society in Ludvika and other volunteers from other civil society organisations. business in 2019. The main objective of the project was to provide free, regular, and results-oriented homework help to students in elementary school, high school and language introductory programs.
4. Sharing good practices among local communities in the recycling & recovery of used products.
Through the implementation of workshops, presentations and discussions, the project’s aim was for best practices concerning recycling and recovery of plastics in Ludvika municipality. The final objective was to improve recovery know-how across industry and train local communities into more sustainable recycling. The project aim was also to strengthen the cross-plastics network so as to improve regular exchange and mutual understanding of strategies that can be used by local communities in recycling.
5. Good Governance For Peace- Research project of the Impact Institute ( For Research, Innovation & Policy Analysis).
Governance systems that contribute to stable peace are characterized by having inclusive means of operating, participatory systems that bring the governed into the process of decision making, systems for accountability that ensure transparent and equitable operations, and enough systemic capacity that they are able to provide physical security and public goods supporting human development. When all of these elements are present, they form a mutually reinforcing virtuous cycle that reduces the risk of violence.
Key Findings of the project.
- Governance systems must ensure that all major groups within a polity perceive themselves as included in decisions and equally able to access resources and public goods. When systems are not inclusive, they contribute to group-based grievances that can lead to mobilization for violence.
- Participatory governance supports peace. Governance systems should provide pathways for citizens to feel that their issues and identity is represented in the decision making structure in some way. When systems are not seen as participatory in some way, their legitimacy is challenged and collective decisions may not be followed. If participation turns into identity-based factionalization leading some groups to feel excluded, then this can contribute to instability.
- Corrupt and unaccountable institutions can encourage autocratic behavior that contributes to violence. Systems for accountability that ensure that rules apply equally to all governed citizens contribute to peace. Ensuring transparency about governance decision making processes and distribution of resources is an important part of accountability.
- A basic level of security and policing is necessary to prevent spoilers and aggressive actors from dominating through brute force. Governance systems that also provide effective human development – in the form of education, health care, and access to potential economic opportunities – are consistently more peaceful. When people lack opportunities and are unable to access essential public goods, they are more likely to engage in political violence.
- These different elements of governance are closely interrelated and support each other. Where governance is weak or failing, improving only one element of the four identified above is not likely to succeed. A whole of society approach is needed in which multiple good governance and peacebuilding reforms are addressed simultaneously.
Conflict and State Building in the Horn of Africa.
The project seeks to examine the origin and causes of inter-state and intra-state conflicts in the HOA. The interplay between inter-state and intra-state conflicts and the regional dimension of these inter-related conflicts is interrogated with the aim of searching for regional and holistic solutions. It further seeks to identify internal and external stakeholders and actors. The project also examines the process of state building where it is thought that the incomplete process of state building is the main underlying factor for the crises in the societies of the region. The project also critically interrogates the project of state building in the HOA, and seeks explanations for the dialectical interplay between conflicts and state building in the HOA.
9. Ethnic Prejudice and Discrimination of the Somali Minority Groups -The Image Of The Other As An Enemy.
This research paper aims to investigate how the mechanisms of prejudice and enemy imaging work in conflict and non-conflict zones. The project further explored if the informant’s stories differ when in conflict zones. Enemy image theories were used as the theoretical base to investigate how the Somali majorities construct the enemy image of the Somali minorities (The Somali Bantus and the occupational groups). The aim and research questions are answered through a comparative case study that focuses on interviewing two Somali minority groups (occupational groups and the Bantu Somalis) who have the experience and lived both in Somalia (conflict context) and Somaliland (non conflict context). The results of the study show that the majority of Somali clans use the delimitation between “them and us” a set of values that separate the two groups and characterize the minority groups as slaves and people of low social, economic, and political status. The majority groups perceive the minority groups as a threat to their assets and core values. This is what has been described as “our” and “their” essence, and the final aim, which is to legitimize violence, is clear in the data. While on the other hand, the majority groups referred to themselves as superior. The results indicated that there were no differences and only similarities in the narratives of the minority groups living in both conflict and non-conflict zones. This was an interesting discovery that was against the known and expected ideal. This thesis also suggests other ways of looking at the concept of enemy images suggesting further areas of research where deemed necessary.