UrbSecurity APN in URBACT City Festival 2022

UrbSecurity APN in URBACT City Festival 2022

This URBACT City Festival 2022 had in our opinion a much more positive outcome than the same event held in online format last year in the middle of the pandemic. It was evident that the possibility of exchanging ideas and sharing good and bad experiences were inspiring factors, which only happens with this intensity in a face to face dialogue. In fact the intense sharing of opinions and even the possibility to disagree is only possible in a good live conversation between partners which makes it a real opportunity to share lessons, knowledge and serve as inspiration for the effort to implement the ongoing activities.

As the pictures show, even the smiles of the participants have become more beautiful (and this is not the fault of the webcams or the ZOOM online platform). We would like to take this opportunity to thank Julien Lambert for (at our request) taking several group photos during an informal meeting we had among our partners who were able to come to Paris and participate in this event.
On the morning of the 16th, our partners had the opportunity to participate in several City visits organized by the festival, cycle through the streets of Paris or travel by boat along the canals, will remain in the memories of the participants, as well as what was learned from the examples and the sharing of experiences that took place.

In this City Festival we also had the opportunity to be challenged to adjust our activities as the joint goal of making this event carbon neutral.
All participants were invited to use the collective means of transport, the meals were sourced exclusively from local producers, the facilities of the Cité Fértile also provided this, from the natural toilets to the fact that the air conditioning was waived on these hot days with over 30ºC.

At the end of the day, a meeting was organized between all the networks, which allowed them to meet colleagues from previous projects and to establish new contacts between the participants from more than 240 European cities.

As concerned Europeans we were also able to symbolically support Ukraine through the collective painting of a mural.

Under the theme greening cities and with the coordination of Tamás Kállay (Lead Expert of the URBACT Health & Greenspace network) and together with other networks we had the opportunity to disseminate the result of our work.From our network, two partners were chosen to develop their activities focused on the safety of public green spaces.
Our lead expert Pedro Soutinho, made a framework of the theme safety in public spaces and an introduction to this important issue in the day-to-day life of any city.

Our partner from the Italian city of Parma described the main points of the work developed with the stakeholders involved in this project and highlighted the achievements as well as the problems that had to be solved during this process. 
The focus of this work fell on one of the largest green spaces of this city, the Parque Ducale, which presented several challenges, starting with its historical character and the obligation to respect a series of rules and legislation that govern the activity and especially the interventions. 
The city has tried to find solutions to the problems related to the misuses that have been taking place in the park. 
The police forces have patrolled the park in an effort to reduce and prevent illicit, drug-related activities.
This activity has a direct impact on the public opinion of the citizens; mainly the users of the park; and intends to improve the perception of safety of the space.

Our partner from the Slovak city of Michalovce, described the inclusive approach supported by a computer platform and allowed through a general invitation to the citizens of the city to participate online in an "opinion map" which consisted of a survey with a geographical component that allowed citizens to indicate on a map the places in their city and provide their opinion about the spaces. This collection of collected data not only gives a real sample of the city's problems, but also allows municipal services to act more quickly in places by resolving the safety issues indicated by the highest number or the highest dissatisfaction rate of citizens. Work was also demonstrated on the development of a support guide for designers where safety issues play a prominent role.

links Youtube

UrbSecurity Integrated Approach session - URBACT City Festival 2022 june 14th 
UrbSecurity Show and Tell session - URBACT City Festival 2022 june 15th 
 

links
https://urbact.eu/carbon-neutral-city-festival-is-it-possible
https://urbact.eu/memories-urbactfest-2022
https://citefertile.com/