Participants concluded that existing approaches remain too fragmented and reactive to address the scale and complexity of the current challenge.
There was broad agreement that any future strategy must integrate government, local authorities, civil society, education providers, technology companies and community organisations within a coherent framework.
Several contributors stressed the importance of establishing clear leadership from the centre of government in order to coordinate activity across departments and institutions.
Participants repeatedly emphasised that local communities should remain central to implementation. Contributors argued that interventions are most effective where they are locally trusted, evidence-based and adapted to specific community contexts.
There was discussions around the need for stronger evaluation mechanisms and longer-term assessment of interventions. Participants noted that many existing programmes have not been rigorously evaluated over time.
Contributors also highlighted the importance of developing compelling democratic narratives capable of competing with extremist messaging online and offline. Participants argued that democratic values and institutions require more proactive advocacy and defence.
The importance of education, civic participation and local trust-building emerged as recurring themes throughout the discussion. Participants noted that strengthening democratic resilience ultimately requires long-term investment in social infrastructure and institutional legitimacy.