The output of the “Prosperes” project presented at the “SHRINE’s” International Project Workshop

Establishing a networking network to facilitate discussion and foster cooperation between religious communities, law enforcement agencies, local authorities and experts was one of the objectives of the Second International Workshop under the EU – ISF project “SHRINEs – Raising Awareness for the protection of places of worship by pomoting interfaith dialogue on the use of advanced technologies”. The workshop, organized by Fondazione SAFE – Security and Freedom for Europe, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano and the University of Lodz, was held on 17-18.10.2023 at the International Airport “Katowice” and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Czestochowa at Jasna Gora. A conference session, study visits, practical exercises and networking discussions were the forms of workshops attended by representatives of the European Commission (DG Home Counter-Terrorism Unit), the Counter-Terrorism Prevention Center of the Internal Security Agency, the Polish Police, Border Guard and Fire Service, representatives of the Police from Sweden, Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, the Netherlands and Cyprus, representatives of religious communities from Europe including the Catholic Church – Archdiocese of Lodz, the Third Order Regular of St. Francis from the Italian province of Umbro Picena. Francis of the Italian province of Umbro Picena, the Social Obesrwatorium Foundation, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Warsaw Jewish Community, the Estonian Central Diakonia, the Evangelical Augsburg Church, the Church of Scientology (European Office in Brussels), the Bosnian Islamic Community in Austria, the Congregation of the Pauline Fathers of Jasna Gora, researchers from the United Kingdom (National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership), the Tiberian Institute in Rome (Istituto Tevere), the Belgian Federation of Active Associations (Fedactio), the Polytechnic University of Turin, the LINKS Foundation (established by the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation – Italy’s largest banking foundation), the French Foundation for Strategic Research, as well as technology partners C&C Partners and Zanasi&Partners. The workshop was an opportunity to present the achievements of “Prosperes” during the plenary session and practical exercises, in particular the “Security by Design Guidebook for Religious Sites” and the tool for assessing the vulnerability of religious sites to attacks (VAT Lite).