Dr. Vana Hutter, Dr Yannick Hill en Dr Raôul Oudejans have secured the NWA-ORC grant for the DE-ESCALATING project.

Aggression between citizens and workers in law enforcement, healthcare, public transport, and service provision occurs too often. The DE-ESCALATING project studies how situations, individuals, and their interactions contribute to this. The researchers will analyze videos of real incidents, along with stress measurements and the motivations of both citizens and professionals. Based on these analyses, they develop strategies to prevent or reduce conflicts. The effectiveness of these de-escalation strategies is then tested. In this project, practice works with research to make professionals better in preventing conflicts and de-escalating aggressive situations

With 7.2 million euros in funding, the project will finance 14 PhD candidates and 4 postdocs over seven years. The consortium is led by the Netherlands Study Centre for Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) and includes a total of 22 societal partners and 14 scientific partners.