The Training for Trainers on Counter-Narratives to hate speech was held from 22-26 January 2024 (arrival and departure days), at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg of the Council of Europe.

The course gathered 24 trainers and consultants, who engage as multipliers to assist civil society organisations in combating hate speech through counter and alternative narratives (CANs). The training was consisted of introduction and exploration of the theoretical and policy frameworks on combatting hate speech, as well as practical application of CANs. The participants-trainers used in practice the online toolkit  which equips multipliers with easy-to-use tools, checklists and resources. The toolkit takes a step-by-step approach to guide the application of counter and alternative narratives which promote human rights and democratic principles that push back against hate speech and discriminatory narratives.  

As a follow-up of the training, an informal pool of multipliers will be established in view to assist different organisations, equality bodies, national public institutions and other stakeholders. These multipliers will also have the role to bring the work on CANs closer to all those interested to take action against hate speech through public communication and engagement of wider audiences.  

The activity was implemented in the framework of the EU-Council of Europe’s joint project “Increasing civil society organisations’ knowledge and capacity to counter hate speech online”. The project is co-funded by the European Union and Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe until December 2024