"What that young man said is worth more than ten published articles"

Washington Post, Al Jazeera and The Guardian. Preben Bertelsen has appeared in all the media that are worth mentioning. In fact, a whole lot has been happening since the professor left his ivory tower after ten years of research and stepped directly onto the street with his contribution to what has become known as the Aarhus model under his arm.

[Translate to English:] Professor Preben Bertelsen fra Institut for Psykologi finder det meget berigende, at hans forskning kan anvendes i praksis i arbejdet med marginaliserede unge. Dog pointerer han, at han får mindst lige så meget igen ved at være med i frontarbejdet. Nemlig en indsigt, som han kalder uvurderlig i forhold til sin videre forskning i antiradikalisering. Foto: Lars Kruse.

"And then we have the professor, who is a very clever man. He knows who is at in danger of radicalisation!"

This Monday evening Professor Bertelsen looks a little awkward during the chairman’s presentation of him as a speaker at a debate about preventing radicalisation at Gellerup Library in Western Aarhus.

"I thought that it might create some distance if he made too much out of the fact that I came from the university," he says when we meet for an interview on the Friday of the same week at his office at the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences in the University Park.

Emotions running high

Distance is really the last thing anyone wants to be met with at this debate, which is taking place on the first weekday evening after 22-year-old Omar El-Hussein killed two people in connection with the shootings in Copenhagen on the weekend of 14-15 February.

But you can’t mistake the fact that there is a distance; neither can you mistake the feeling that emotions are running high among the majority of the approx. 250 members of the audience at the library located in the middle of the concrete jungle that is the Gellerup Park.

Armed police

While the organisers try to find more chairs for the many people who continue to stream through the doors, a woman who looks like she is of Somali origin explains that many mothers in her building in Gellerup have not dared to send their children to school this Monday, because they fear that the children will be subjected to reprisals after the killings during the weekend.

Armed police, of which there are many this evening, walk past the rows of bookshelves with alert expressions on their faces. And when the Minister of Defence and the mayor, who are also among the speakers, appear as some of the last visitors, they come directly from a memorial ceremony for the victims of Omar El-Hussein’s attacks which has been quickly arranged in front of Aarhus City Hall.

Thank you those words of wisdom

When Preben Bertelsen is given the floor to make his presentation he stands up from his place among the panellists. He is the only speaker who makes use of a PowerPoint and he often points to his slides to emphasise his points.

He talks about the way in which young people who are in danger of radicalisation are met by psychologists, the police and social workers in Aarhus. He also talks about the importance of continuing to try and understand the reasons why some young people become radicalised, if we are to stand a chance of preventing attacks from marginalised young men like Omar El-Hussein.

"Thanks for those words of wisdom from the professor there. I think you are saying the right things. You look at it with an open perspective," says a young man in a quilted jacket during the subsequent debate, where so many people have their hands up that the chairman really has his work cut out.

Preben Bertelsen cannot conceal his delight when reminded of the comment during the interview in his office later in the week.

"What that young man said is worth more than ten published articles. But please don't write that as my department head might read it!" he laughs.

The professor from the ivory tower

Publishing articles has not exactly been a problem for Professor Bertelsen. In fact, he describes himself as someone who has spent ten years sitting in an ivory tower doing research. When asked about his experiences after coming down from the ivory tower to take part in frontline work with the young people who are e.g. planning to travel to Syria, he explains:

"I've found a fantastic collaboration with social workers, psychologists and the outreach workers on the streets who are in contact with the socially marginalised young people. And it’s good to see that my research can be put into practice. But it’s just as important that I get at least as much back by seeing how things really are out there."

He continues:

"I’m constantly being confronted and challenged by the reality experienced by both the social workers and the young people. This gives me a really invaluable input for my on-going research. And I will continue doing research in the way that I am now because I can see that it’s a win-win situation."

President Obama's morning paper 

It’s no exaggeration to say that the way in which Aarhus University together with the East Jutland Police and the Aarhus Municipality has chosen to work with marginalised young people has attracted international attention.

The first time I call Preben Bertelsen to talk about a possible interview is in the autumn of 2014. It’s a telephone call that almost causes me to drop the phone once he lists all the interviews that are already filling up his calendar.

A journalist from President Obama's morning paper, Washington Post, has just been there, while another from The Guardian is coming the day after – and on it goes. More than 200 national and international media outlets have contacted him during the past few months.

"To start with it’s quite interesting with all the media coverage. And it is also important to do interviews as this has lead to people around the world becoming aware of our Aarhus model. I actually believe – and hopefully this isn’t going to sound too pretentious – that we have something to contribute globally when it comes to preventing radicalisation. But I must also say that there comes a time when it becomes a distraction and it also gets to be tiresome in the long run. So we’ve started to talk about getting back to having a bit more peace and quiet to do some work again," he says.

Insight you don’t find at conferences

But for the time being he still says yes to interviews as he has found that media appearances help to create contacts and insights that he would otherwise miss out on as a researcher.

"We have something to contribute, but we don’t know everything and other people are also working with plenty of exciting initiatives around the world which are similar to what we are working on. I have just heard about an initiative in Minnesota, where they work in the Somali environment in a way that is similar to the method that we work with here in Aarhus. Of course, what’s fantastic is that you become aware of each other internationally through the media. This kind of mutual knowledge is not something you get at academic conferences because they never get out onto the streets."


The Aarhus Model

 

"Prevention of radicalisation and discrimination in Aarhus" is the correct term for the pedagogical approach towards young people on the edges of society, which most people now know as the Aarhus model.

The Aarhus model is a collaboration between Aarhus University, East Jutland Police and the Municipality of Aarhus.

The aim is to prevent religious or political radicalisation of young people. This is done by working on an understanding and handling of concepts such as radicalisation, extremism, terrorism and discrimination.

In general, discrimination is viewed as the greatest single contributing factor towards young people ending in a situation where they are in danger of becoming radicalised. For this reason, the efforts being made in relation to minimising the basis for recruitment start with the following:

 

  •  A sustainable and coherent society which is developed across social background and ethnic, cultural and linguistic affiliation.
  • Cohesion supported by the fact that all experience and utilise citizenship.
  • Experience of discrimination and lack of experience of citizenship being one of several factors that can lead to radicalisation.
  • That the prevention of radicalisation in Aarhus also includes an active effort against discrimination.