Race equality charities have launched a sector-wide webinar project to help charities “confront the root causes” of the racist riots that broke out over the summer.

The project, launched by a coalition of race equality organisations, will involve free webinars to explore the causes and the impact of the racist riots that broke out across UK cities this summer, which were fuelled by misinformation and instigated by far-right groups.

The coalition includes the Race Equality Foundation, Muslim Charities Network, the Alliance for Racial Justice, and the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action.

The organisations said that since the riots, the “government’s focus on punitive measures and ‘community cohesion’ has been inadequate”.

They said: “We are urging a shift away from surface-level, short-term measures towards working on the deep-rooted, systemic causes behind the racist intent of the riots.”

The coalition’s project will include four webinars, in November and December, for the voluntary sector to explore the intersectional causes and effects of the riots – including systemic racism, increasing male-perpetrated violence, inadequate provisions for healthcare staff and the spread of demonising racist narratives. 

The first webinar, which will be held on 19 November, will focus on the value of a co-ordinated anti-racism response across sectors. 

The second, to be held on 27 November, will discuss how far-right racialised and gendered narratives fuelled the violence and the long-term solutions required.

The third webinar will be held on 5 December and will explore the racialised violence against NHS staff and structured solutions.

The final webinar, to be held on 12 December, will look at the role of the media, exploring decades of normalised racism and Islamophobia, as well as the role of disinformation.

Keynote speakers will include Robyn Knox, director of the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership; Baljit Banga, director of Hibiscus; Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation; and Charles Kwaku-Odoi, chief executive of the Caribbean & African Health Network.

Interested parties can sign up to the first webinar online.

The organisations said that although deprivation, poor health and a lack of job opportunities have been used to explain the rioters, “little effort has been made to understand how frustration and hardship were turned into racist hatred”.

They added: “There has also been little examination of how British institutions, the media or public officials may have played a role in encouraging these acts.

“Recognising that the causes of the riots were systemic, the coalition is committed to developing specific anti-racist solutions that address sector-wide changes, build resilience and prevent future violence.”

The coalition said the webinars would serve as the foundation for long-term actions, including a push for all political parties to sign up to the definition of Islamophobia proposed by the all-party parliamentary group on British muslims, and a regulator being given responsibility for monitoring the implementation of this.

Butt said: “Amid the response to the riots, the racist and Islamophobic intent behind the violence has been overlooked. It needs to be acknowledged and confronted.

“Through this project, we hope that a coalition of partners and organisations can together take co-ordinated, anti-racist steps which tackle the root causes of the riots. Our webinars this November and December will be a staging post, providing an important space to reflect on these causes and work together to prevent racist violence.”