Dr. Stijn Aerts
Abt. Secretariat
Stijn Aerts is a research officer at, and the coordinator of, the (Brussels-based) Secretariat of the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN). The EUCPN was set up by EU Council Decisions from 2001 and 2009, and has as its primary objective to connect the local, national and European level and to promote crime prevention knowledge and practices in the EU Member States. The EUCPN is a point of reference regarding crime prevention, disseminates knowledge on crime prevention and supports crime prevention interventions at the national and local levels. It contributes to the EU policy and strategy of crime prevention and takes part in various aspects of crime prevention with respect to the strategic priorities of the EU.
Stijn is trained as an Arabist/Islamicist (PhD). Before joining the EUCPN he spent about a decade in scientific research, covering topics as far apart as early Islamic social history and jihadist radicalism. He was awarded a fellowship of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), served a term as assistant director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC), and was invited as a visiting professor to the University of Leuven.
He joined the research team of the EUCPN Secretariat in 2018, where his thematic focus would be on violent radicalisation, trafficking in human beings, and family-based crime.
