Vienna fights against extremism: better protect young people!

Vienna fights against extremism: better protect young people!

On June 16, 2025, the 17th workshop. What took place in the Vienna town hall, which devoted itself to the important topic of extremism prevention. Under the motto "Extremism prevention: Examples from Berlin", the event was a forum for experts and committed actors to discuss successful prevention strategies. The event was organized by the Department of Integration and Diversity of the City of Vienna in cooperation with the Democracy department, which is part of the Vienna Youth Center Association. The event included presentations by experts from the Violence Prevention Networks as well as the interdisciplinary center for radicalization prevention and democracy promotion.

Vice Mayor Bettina Emmerling emphasized the importance of international exchange for extremism prevention during her speech. She found that Vienna has already started initiatives to protect young people from extremist influences, with the Vienna Network Democracy Culture and Prevention (WNED) a central element.

Focus on evidence based

The event also highlighted the challenges of evidence -based prevention, a concept that is becoming increasingly important in combating radicalization and extremism. According to an article by the Federal Center for Political Education, evidence -based prevention is characterized by scientifically proven relationships between strategies and the desired results. This methodology has proven to be effective in many areas, such as health and education, and aims to prevent social problems such as extremism.

Adrian Stuiber from the IZRD emphasized the need for international and interdisciplinary prevention work. A study by Foresight from 2024 showed that over half of the young people indicate that they are insufficiently formed in schools, which reduces trust in the political system. Anton Niggel from the Democracy department showed how important knowledge and trust in democracy are for extremism prevention. The Democracy department supports youth workers with targeted further training offers and useful tools.

Materials for extremism pravention

A large number of materials for the prevention of extremism are aimed at young people and young adults. These come from Switzerland and other European countries and include both information materials and practical guidelines. For example, a practical guideline for parents offers help on media criticism and dealing with internet propaganda. There are also numerous learning arrangements and workshops that are supposed to strengthen the media literacy of young people.

These materials are designed to offer youth work and other actors specialists in prevention work. The application examples include interactive games, documentaries and podcasts on topics such as radicalization and right -wing extremism that were specially developed to be used in everyday work.

Overall, the 17th workshop shows that the prevention of extremism requires both active exchange of ideas and knowledge as well as proven, evidence -based approaches. The continuous training of specialists is crucial to meet the challenges of youth care in an increasingly complex world.

For further information on the event and the measures used for extremism prevention, please visit the following pages: Wien.gv.at,, bpb.de and opposite radicalization.ch.