Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance implemented in cooperation with the CVE Center the project “Support the Coordination Center for Countering Violent Extremism to delivering strategic communications on P/CVE through capacity building and research”, financially supported by the US Embassy in Albania.

The project aimed to support the CVE Center, Line Ministries, institutions and respective agencies, through improving their capacities in terms of developing and implementing strategic communication to prevent and counter the propaganda of violent extremism. In the framework of this objective, with the participation of employees from ministries and other dependent institutions, were developed simulation exercises (tabletop exercises), which aimed to reach through active participation and discussions:

• Identification of deficiencies/needs related to strategic communication;
• Identification of deficiencies/needs related to the management of incidents in the framework of the prevention of violent extremism;
• Exploring mechanisms for information exchange and inter-institutional cooperation;
• Examining policies, plans and protocols for responding to incidents of violent extremism.

Through the identification of the problems, deficiencies and needs identified by the employees of the ministries and other dependent institutions, this interaction aims to serve as an instrument which can contribute to:

• Improving cooperation and coordination between responsible employees and respective institutions;
• Consolidation of strategic communication and practices of its use in the framework of the prevention of violent extremism;
• Improving the overall response to incidents of violent extremism as well as the joint decision-making process;
• Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the employees as well as expanding existing knowledge.