Bærum,

Norway

Safe City Action

 

Bærum and Nordic Safe Cities are working to get a better understanding of the root-causes of extremism, take action to prevent hate speech and hate crime, and identify how to prevent right-wing extremism on a local level.

City Portrait

Bærum is the fifth largest municipality in Norway, neighbouring the capital city of Oslo, and is situated among Oslofjord, fields, rural surroundings and urban developments. Bærum in one of the fastest growing municipalities in Norway and has the greatest income per capita, the highest proportion of university educated inhabitants, and scores highly on several public health measures and socio-economic indicators. The city has low rates of children living in low-income households and a high participation rate of youth engaging in organised activities. These indicators are reflected in the overall security, feelings of safety and low crimes rates in the city.

Safe City Challenges

Bærum is generally perceived as a safe and nice place to stay and visit, but the city has experienced a slight increase in youth crime and some people with extreme affiliations over the past few years. The most recent national security assessment in Norway elevated the threat from the far right to equal that from radical Islamic extremism. The assessments mirrors the situation in Bærum, where as a result of the white supremacy motivated terror incident in 2019 and other recent attacks around the world, there is now an equal focus and level of concern related to right-wing extremism and radical Islamic extremism.

Strategy

The city of Bærum works to prevent, detect and tackle hate speech, hate crime and violent extremism. The strategy emphasises early detection of high-risk individuals and meeting them with effective interventions. Bærum recognises that a broad effort is needed to prevent radicalisation and violent extremism, and that socio-economic disparities must be tackled as well as general work to promote participation, inclusion and gender equality.

 

FOCUS AREAS

The City of Bærum currently focuses on the following:

  1. Cross-sectional coordination and cooperation between relevant actors
  2. Strengthening knowledge and competence at all levels of the public sector
  3. Early intervention and close contact with persons at risk
  4. Reintegrate persons returning/ breaking with extremist environments
  5. Close cooperation with parents

Highlighted Initiatives

1 / 2 — Prevention of Hate speech and Hate crimes

Current initiatives involve a broader focus on hate speech and hate crimes. We have developed a flyer in collaboration with a secondary school, FRI- the Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, Faith organizations and the police.

Good Practise

GUIDE FOR PARENTS

The Guide for Parents is a simple guide which parents can use to check whether everything Is well with their child or if there may be a cause for concern. The guide is produced by the immigrant organisations in Bærum – by parents, for parents. The aim of the guide is to identify people in the risk zone at as early a stage as possible and to implement appropriate measures for them. The guide is divided into three zones: Green (No cause for concerns); Yellow (Cause for concern – Talk to your child and seek advice and guidance); Red (Considerable cause for concern – See help and guidance as soon as possible).

If parents do have any concerns, they can easily contact the relevant services (school, welfare, health, police etc.) for dialogue, advice and guidance, and follow-up discussions with young people are adapted to their challenges, situations and relationships.

Read more here