VANGUARD participated in the 25th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology (EUROCRIM2025) held on September 4-6, 2025, in Athens, Greece, organised by the European Society of Criminology (ESC) and hosted by the American College of Greece.
The Conference, being one of Europe’s most significant gatherings of criminologists and professionals in related fields, brought together more than 2,000 researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from all over the world, aiming to delve into meaningful discussions on diverse, multidisciplinary aspects of criminology, criminal justice, and related social sciences.
VANGUARD, represented by its Coordinator, the M4D group of the MKLab of the Information Technologies Institute (ITI) at the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH), as well as by UCSC (Consortium Partner), organised and coordinated a Round Table Discussion, entitled “At the nexus of trafficking criminal activities: Understanding-Disrupting-Exposing”. During this Roundtable, in which apart from VANGUARD three other EU-funded projects, ARIEN, PERIVALLON and RITHMS had been hosted, the findings of the research performed in each project on different forms of trafficking (Human Beings, Drugs, Waste and Cultural Goods respectively) have been presented, delving into a well-rounded discussion, seeking to analyse the connection between diverse criminal activities, outline AI-based solutions, and highlight collaborative multi-agency efforts as key strategies for combatting organised crime and for enhancing security across Europe.
During the Round Table Discussion, VANGUARD presented the project main objectives and key planned outcomes, providing in parallel insights on the projects’ results around new forms and emerging threats in Trafficking in Human Beings (THB). The outcomes of this Round Table along with the critical discussions throughout the conference, contributed valuable insights to the global endeavors on fighting THB.
