Integrating Methods, Awareness & Gamified Interventions for Next-gen prevention of youth Crime

IMAGINE is a collaborative European initiative focused on preventing youth delinquency, criminal recruitment and grooming. Coordinated by Fondazione Bruno Kessler, the project combines criminological, sociological, psychological, legal and ethical research with artificial intelligence, gamification, digital storytelling and serious games. It will develop an evidence-based Toolsuite, training resources and early-intervention approaches for young people, law-enforcement agencies, civil-society organisations, educators and youth services.

The consortium includes Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Northumbria University, the University of Trento, the European Institute Foundation, SAHER Europe, F6S Network Ireland, Eticas Research and Consulting, Polícia Judiciária (Portugal), Romania’s Protection and Guard Service, Brussels Capital Ixelles Police, the Bavarian University of Applied Sciences for Public Service, Youth for Exchange and Understanding, and the European Association for Local Democracy.

Northumbria University leads Work Package 2, which maps youth delinquency, recruitment and grooming pathways across European contexts and establishes the project’s social science and humanities foundations. This work examines actors, motivations, digital and physical environments, risk and protective factors, and gendered and intersectional vulnerabilities. The resulting evidence will guide the development of IMAGINE’s Toolsuite, training materials and pilot activities.

Through all WP activities, IMAGINE aims to strengthen ethical, inclusive and rights-based youth crime prevention while building empathy, critical thinking, bystander efficacy, resilience and effective multi-agency cooperation.