Lived Experience in P/CVE Toolkit

People with lived experience—including former extremists and survivors—can bring valuable knowledge, perspective, and expertise to preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). Meaningful involvement requires clear roles, appropriate support, professional boundaries, and a strong organizational commitment to safety and wellbeing.

Based on the Credibility Through Standards project, this toolkit helps organizations understand and meet their responsibilities. Separate Reflection Guides support former extremists and survivors considering P/CVE work.

The project was led by Gordon Clubb and Katharina Sengfelder through the University of Leeds, in collaboration with INDEX, the Organization for Prevention of Violence, Resilience in Unity, and Fighters for Peace.

For Organizations

Organizations can begin with the Readiness Guide, use the Standards and Self-Assessment together, and access additional implementation tools through INDEX.

Organizational Readiness Guide

Is your organization ready to include people with lived experience?

Assess your organization’s motivations, capacity, policies, support structures, and potential challenges before establishing or expanding lived-experience roles.

Standards and Guidance

What does responsible involvement require?

The guide covers recruitment and onboarding, roles and boundaries, safety and wellbeing, professional development, and supervision and oversight. Each standard explains why it matters, key considerations, and practical examples.

Organizational Self-Assessment

How closely do your current practices align with the Standards?

Use the Self-Assessment alongside the Standards and Guidance to identify strengths, gaps, and next steps.

Practical Tools through INDEX

Connect. Share. Strengthen practice.

Free INDEX membership provides access to adaptable checklists, templates, and tools for recruitment, role development, onboarding, boundaries, supervision, and wellbeing. Join the network to connect with practitioners worldwide.

Training and Consulting

Looking for support?

Exit Nexus helps organizations design programs, put them into practice, train staff, and evaluate what is working and what could be improved.

For Former Extremists and Survivors

The Reflection Guides are for former extremists and survivors considering P/CVE work.

Reflection Guide for Former Extremists

Is this work right for you?

Use this guide to reflect on your motivations, expectations, boundaries, public disclosure and privacy, relationships, wellbeing, personal and family impacts, and the support an organization should provide.

Implementing Standards with INDEX

How, when, and whether to become involved is your decision.

This guide supports survivors of violent extremism who are considering contributing their lived experience to P/CVE work. Use this guide to consider expectations, boundaries, wellbeing, privacy, potential impacts, and what support an organization should provide.

Tell us what you think

Feedback and Evaluation

The standards and toolkit are constantly evolving through practical experience and feedback.

Your feedback will help us understand how these resources are being used, what impact they are having in practice, and how they can be improved in the future.

About the Toolkit

The toolkit began with the development of standards for organizations in the Involving Former Extremists in P/CVE project, which led to the open-access Oxford University Press volume Former Extremists: Preventing and Countering Violence and the 2024 ICCT report Standards for Employing Formers in P/CVE.

Feedback from early implementation showed that standards alone were not enough. Organizations needed tools to assess their readiness and support implementation, while people with lived experience wanted guidance to make informed decisions before becoming involved. The project therefore evolved from standards focused on former extremists into a broader toolkit for organizations, former extremists, and survivors.

The project was led by Gordon Clubb and Katharina Sengfelder through the University of Leeds, in collaboration with the International Network for Disengagement and Exit (INDEX), an initiative of Violence Prevention Network, the Organization for Prevention of Violence, Resilience in Unity, and Fighters for Peace.

We also thank the reviewers with lived experience who helped shape the standards and contributed valuable insights to the reflection guides for former extremists and survivors.

Training and Support

For questions about the project or its research, contact Gordon Clubb at the University of Leeds at [email protected].

For training, implementation support, or consultancy, contact Katharina Sengfelder at Exit Nexus at [email protected].