Project Insight – Conference: Gun violence in the EU

Date
07/12/2023
8:30 - 17:30

Please register for the international conference using the form at the bottom of this page.

THE CONFERENCE IN SHORT

This day-long international conference in the Flemish Parliament in Brussels (Belgium) will serve as the platform to officially present the results of Project INSIGHT. Project INSIGHT aims to prevent violence in society by structurally improving the visibility of firearms violence in the European Union. The tool: an online knowledge platform on which all information related to firearm violence in the European Union is centralised.

The conference will gather an extensive array of researchers, policy makers and practitioners in European firearms and domestic security. Conference sessions will focus on research in the morning and on policy and practice in the afternoon. All sessions will be held in English.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

08h30 – 09h00: Arrival of participants at conference venue
(Flemish Parliament, Ijzerenkruisstraat 99, Brussels, Belgium)

09h00 – 09h50: Welcome & presentation of the results of the Project INSIGHT (Plenary session – room Schelp):

Nils Duquet & Diederik Cops (Flemish Peace Institute) demonstrate the incident monitor and present an overview of the various elements of the Project INSIGHT, all of which are included on the new portal website gunviolence.eu.
(!)This opening session will be live streamed. Register here to follow through Zoom.

10h00 – 11h00: Breakout-session 1 (room Zuilenzaal OR room Schelp)

In each session the main conclusions of two research papers will be presented by the authors. Attendees choose between the following sessions:

• Session 1A: Criminal & drug violence 
  • Chair:  Nils Duquet
  • Project INSIGHT-partners :
    • ‘Tools of the trade: criminal gun violence in the European Union’ – Astrid De Schutter (Flemish Peace Institute)
    • ‘Exploring the link between drug-related violence and firearms’ – Marieke Liem (Leiden University)
  • Discussant: Joakim Sturup (operational coordinator at the Swedish National Firearms Focal Point)

• Session 1B: Trafficking in firearms and ammunition 
  • Chair :  Andrea Varisco
  • Project INSIGHT-partners :
    • ‘Illegal firearms ammunition and other explosive munitions in Europe’ –  Nicolas Florquin (Small Arms Survey)
    • ‘Privately made firearms in the European Union’ – Anne-Sévérine Fabré (Small Arms Survey)
  • Discussant: Leon Kersbergen (Specialist Analysis Project Weapons&Explosives Europol)

11h00-11h30: Coffee break + transfer to different room when applicable

11h30-12h30: Breakout-session 2 (room Zuilenzaal OR room Schelp)

In each session the main conclusions of two research papers will be presented by the authors. Attendees choose between the following sessions:

• Session 2A: Domestic & gender based violence 
  • Chair : Diederik Cops
  • Project INSIGHT-partners:
    • ‘Gender-based firearms violence in the European Union‘ – Giovanna Maletta (SIPRI)
    • ‘Friendly Fire: Family Gun Violence in the European Union’ – Astrid De Schutter (Flemish Peace Institute)
  • Discussant: Dragan Bozanic (Gender and Research Project Officer – UNDP-SEESAC)

• Session 2B: Lethal violence & types of guns  
  • Chair : Marieke Liem
  • Project INSIGHT-partners :
    • ‘To kill or not to kill: lethal and non-lethal firearm violence in the European Union’ – Katharina Krüsselman (Leiden University)
    • ‘The different types of firearms used in violence across the European Union’ – Andrea Varisco (SIPRI)
  • Discussant: Richard Martens (Dutch Police)

12h30-13h30: Lunch break, poster sessions, partner publications on display

13h30-13h45: Keynote Speech by Paul Van Tigchelt, Belgian Minister of Justice

13h45-14h45: Thematic panel discussion 1: Policy & gun violence (Plenary session – room Schelp):

A panel of 1 chair and 3 panel members will engage in a vivid discussion on several topics related to policy and gun violence. 

• Chair
  • Nils Duquet (director Flemish Peace Institute)
• Panel members:
  • Febe Liagre (EU Commission representative)
  • Dragan Bozanic (SEESAC representative)
  • Sara Pinheiro Stocker (UNODC representative)

14h45-15h00: coffee break

15h00-16h00:  Thematic panel discussion 2: Operational priorities to tackle gun violence (Plenary session – room Schelp):

A panel of 1 chair and 3 panel members will engage in a discussion on several topics related to the operational priorities to tackle gun violence and the challenges and opportunities related to this. 

• Chair
  • Peter Spiliers (EFE/Belgian Federal Police)
• Panel members:
  • Adriana Toston (EMPACT firearms driver – Guardia Civil Spain)
  • Vitalii Kasap (Head of Liaison Bureau of Ukraine to Europol)
  • Ivo Nevens (Federal Judicial Police, Brussels)

16h00-16h30: Closing remarks (Plenary session – room Schelp)

• Febe Liagre (European Commission)
• Nils Duquet (director Flemish Peace Institute)

16h30-17h30: Networking (room Zuilenzaal)

Please register for the international conference using the form below.

This conference is funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund – Police.
The content of this conference represents the views of the organisation and/or the panelists only and is their sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.