22 July 2011 at Ten: Commemoration and Commitment

You may see recordings of the conference summary and concluding remarks here: 

The first day is public and live streamed from the University Aula. It opens with welcome addresses from the Rector of the University of Bergen and the Vice Mayor of the City of Bergen. This is followed by an academic panel from University of Bergen researchers, a keynote lecture from the Khalifa Ihler Institute, a memorial event, a presentation on Norway’s work to counteract extremist terrorism from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a review and reaffirmation of the principles underpinning the Christchurch Call from the New Zealand government. The press is encouraged to attend.

The second day will feature closed workshops led by the participating organisations and other invited delegates, focusing on the same questions: what have we learned since 22 July 2011, and what still needs to improve? How can we embed, and extend, the Christchurch Call – through specific initiatives, resources and collective action?

These workshops will continue into the third and final day, and a roundtable concludes this series of closed discussions. This will be followed by a summary and closing reflections on the event, where the press is again encouraged to attend. The day closes with the presentation of a working document towards future efforts, followed by a press conference. The working document will reaffirm those values assaulted by right-wing extremists, and outline steps to ensure that horrors like that of 22 July 2011 never happen again.

For further information please contact erik.tonning@uib.no

Prof. Erik Tonning is Professor of British Literature and Culture in the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bergen. As Director of the project “Modernism and Christianity” (2011-2014) he co-curated the exhibition “Art in Battle” (KODE art galleries 2015/16) on Nazi-era art in Norway, and edited the volume Modernism, Christianity, and Apocalypse (Brill 2015). He is currently co-Director of the research group “Literature and Religion”, and Director of a new interdisciplinary research project called “Inventing the Secular”. He is the main University of Bergen organiser of “22 of July at 10”.

Bjørn Ihler is the co-founder and director of the Khalifa Ihler Institute. Ihler is an internationally renowned expert in countering and preventing radicalization into violent extremism through the design of healthier communities both online and off-line. Ihler is also a member of the group Extremely Together working under the Kofi Annan Foundation to empower youth internationally to challenge violent extremism in their local communities and work against radicalisation across the globe. His most recent appointment as of July 2020 is as Chairperson of the Independent Advisory Committee of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. Ihler has worked with and advised a range of local organizations, national governments and international institutions such as the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the United Nations to develop strategies to more effectively prevent radicalisation into violent extremism, and build more peaceful communities.

Prof. Matthew Feldman is a specialist on fascist ideology and radical-right extremism, and is the director of Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right. A longstanding feature of his work is a record of public engagement and policy-based impact, including briefings for various governmental bodies, reports for leading Non-Governmental Organizations, expert testimony, and several hundred media interviews. He is the author or editor of more than 20 books, including three book length studies and more than 40 peer-reviewed articles or academic book chapters. His second collection of essays, Politics, Intellectuals and Faith, appeared in spring 2020.

Dr Mette Wiggen is a specialist on the radical right in Scandinavia and a Senior Fellow at CARR. She is a Lecturer in the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds. She works with widening participation in Higher Education and is an advocate for refugees’- and non -traditional students’ access to university education. Her publications include “Rethinking Anti-Immigration Rhetoric after the Oslo and Utøya Terror Attacks” in New Political Science (2012,34:4, 585-604 ) and “Norway has failed to combat a Climate of Hate” in Will Allchorn, ed., Tracking the Rise of the Radical Right Globally (2019 Stuttgart, Ibidem Verlag.  She is also a regular contributor to Open Democracy, Fair Observer and CARR.

Miriam Fanin is the research lead of the Khalifa Ihler Institute on far right extremism and terrorism. She holds a Master degree in Diplomacy and International cooperation, and a Bachelor in Intercultural Mediation. Her research and work focusing on hate-groups has guided her work on the Khalifa Ihler Hate-Map for which she is lead researcher.

List of confirmed speakers (in order of appearance)

• Professor Margareth Hagen, Rector, University of Bergen
• Ms Lubna Boby Jaffery, Acting Leader of the City Government, The City of Bergen
• Professor Erik Tonning, Professor of British Literature and Culture, Director of the “Inventing the Secular” project and co-Director of the research group “Literature and Religion”, Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bergen
• Professor Elisabeth Ivarsflaten, Professor of Political Science and Scientific Director of the Norwegian Citizen Panel, University of Bergen
• Professor Christoph Trattner, Professor of Information Science and Director of MediaFutures: Research Centre for Responsible Media Technology and Innovation, Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen
• Mr Bjørn Ihler, Co-founder and Director of the Khalifa Ihler Institute, Chair of the Independent Advisory Committee to the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.
• Ms Vanessa Svebakk, Mother of 22 July 2011 victim
• Ms Cecilie Løveid, Poet
• Ms Marte Mjøs Persen, Mayor, The City of Bergen
• Mr Constantin Nicolaysen Karamé, Senior Adviser, Counterterrorism and Prevention of Violent Extremism, Department of Security Affairs and the High North, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Mr Paul Ash, Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Cyber and Digital, Christchurch Call & Cyber Coordinator, New Zealand
• Ms Liz Thomas, Regional Digital Safety Lead (Asia-Pacific), Microsoft
• Ms Dina Hussein, Counterterrorism Policy Head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Facebook
• Ms Lucy Calladine, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Google
• Mr Patrick Woody, Policy manager, Twitter
• Katrine Nødtvedt, Commissioner for Culture, Diversity and Equality, City of Bergen
• HE Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate
• Ms Farah Kasim, Political Affairs Officer, Political Analysis and Research Unit, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, United Nations Security Council
• Mr Marc Porret, Senior Legal Officer, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, United Nations Security Council
• Mr David Wells, Head of Research & Analysis, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, United Nations Security Council
• Mr Laurent Muschel, European Commission – Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs
• Ms Anna Zizola, Policy Officer, European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, and European Union Internet Forum, Lead on Proscribed Far-right Extremist Groups
• Mr Nick Rasmussen, Executive Director of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism
• Dr Erin Saltman, Director of Programming, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism and Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue
• Dr Nayanka Paquete Perdigao, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism
• Dr Richard Thompson, OBE, Deputy Director for Online Policy at the United Kingdom Home office
• Dr Murtaza Shaikh, Policy Lead – Online Hate, Terrorism and Incitement, Online Safety Policy Team, Ofcom (UK communications regulator)
• Dr Sharri Clark, Senior Advisor for Cyber and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) in the Bureau of Counterterrorism and CVE (CT) at the U.S. Department of State
• Mr Adam Hadley, Executive Director, Tech Against Terrorism
• Professor Matthew Feldman, Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, United Kingdom

EUROPOL has a mission to support its Member States in preventing and combating all forms of serious international and organised crime, cybercrime and terrorism. Europol’s vision is to ensure an effective EU response to the threats of serious international and organised crime, cybercrime and terrorism in the EU, by acting as the principal information hub, delivering agile operational support and providing European policing solutions in conjunction with our network of partners.Europol's Strategy is the frame of reference for its daily operations and for supporting EU law enforcement cooperation.In pursuit of this ambitious strategy, Europol addresses the most important challenges facing it, and is exploiting all opportunities to make further progress and deliver tangible benefits

Moonshot  aims at reaching people at risk from online harms and offers them an alternative path. Their work is rooted in evidence, ethics and the fundamental belief that people can change. They specialise in finding vulnerable audiences demonstrating interest in or advocating for the propagation of online harms, as well as understand vulnerable individuals online, and build an evidence base to better inform campaigns and interventions to safeguard these audiences.

Tech Against Terrorism is an initiative launched and supported by the United Nations Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (UNCTED) working with the global tech industry to tackle terrorist use of the internet whilst respecting human rights. As an inter-disciplinary team consisting of counter-terrorism experts and developers, it offers tech companies practical and operational support to help implement effective mechanisms to respond to terrorist use of the internet. In 2018 it launched the Data Science Network, the world’s first network of experts working on developing and deploying automated solutions to counter terrorist use of smaller tech platforms whilst respecting human rights.

The Center for Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR) is a UK-based research centre and pedagogical outreach initiative focused on the study and countering of radical right extremism and intersecting phenomena (e.g. populism, gender, antisemitism, and Islamophobia) that aims to support a variety of mainstream groups, from government agencies to grass-roots charities, through podcasts, commentary, research reports, presentations, media interviews and commissioned work.

The European Union Internet Forum (EUIF), launched by Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos in cooperation with the Commissioner for Justice, Consumer and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, the Forum brings together EU Interior Ministers, high-level representatives of major internet companies, Europol, the EU Counter Terrorism Co-ordinator and the European Parliament. The goal is to reach a joint, voluntary approach based on a public-private partnership to detect and address harmful material online.

The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is an NGO designed to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms. Founded by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube in 2017, the Forum was established to foster technical collaboration among member companies, advance relevant research, and share knowledge with smaller platforms. Since 2017, GIFCT’s membership has expanded beyond the founding companies to include over a dozen diverse platforms committed to cross-industry efforts to counter the spread of terrorist and violent extremist content online.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), created in 2006, is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to safeguarding human rights and reversing the rising tide of polarisation, extremism and disinformation worldwide. ISD partners with governments, cities, businesses and communities, working to deliver solutions at all levels of society, to empower those that can really impact change.

The Khalifa Ihler Institute (KII) was founded in 2016 by Asma Khalifa and Bjørn Ihler and has grown to be among the leading international organisations shaping global policy and conversations in the fight for peace, liberty and equality. The institute manages and delivers projects, events and workshops to a global audience of engaged activists and supports a number of international research projects, consultation processes and policy development efforts. As a peace-building organization we work for a more peaceful, freer and more equal world through an intersectional approach to our mission working with stakeholders from grassroots activists and minority community to state leaders and international bodies such as the EU and UN.

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee (UNCTC) provides assessments to understand and define the counter-terrorism situation in each Member State. It also provides technical assistance to Member States by disseminating best practices, identifying existing technical, financial, regulatory and legislative assistance programmes, promoting synergies between the assistance programmes of international, regional and subregional organizations.  Through its Executive Directorate (CTED), serving as an intermediary for contacts between potential donors and recipients and maintaining an on-line directory of assistance providers, all within the framework of resolution 1373 (2001)it implements its policy decisions and conducts expert assessments of Member States.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) mission is to contribute to global peace and security, human rights and development by making the world safer from drugs, crime, corruption and terrorism.

Ofcom is the UK’s independent communications regulator, responsible for regulating the TV, radio and video on demand sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.