FINAL COUNTDOWN FOR THE IcARUS PROJECT

The 8THcoordination meeting, followed by the final conference: “Innovative Approaches to Urban Security: Strengthening Crime Prevention Through Social Innovation” were successfully conducted on the 25th and 26th June 2024 in Liège (Belgium). Simultaneously, the Efus’ General Assembly also took place on the same date and place. The events were kindly hosted at the premises of Liege City Hall, also known as La Violette, an impressive architectural jewel, built in 1714 and listed as an ’exceptional heritage’ of Wallonia since 2002.

During the coordination meeting, the main outputs of the project were presented to all partners, but also concrete ideas on the sustainability of its developments and results, such as the Innovation Studio, were highlighted. This studio would work as a lab, divided in 6 areas of action: define and understand the issues, draw inspiration, co-produce local security strategy, testing a pilot and implementing a solution, evaluation-knowledge management, sustainability-transferability.
The finalpending activities of the project are expected to be concluded before its finalization, on the 31st August 2024.

As for the subsequent Conference, six panels composed the agenda, gathering representatives from different Cities’ Councils as well as experts from several EU countries and wide fields of expertise, from the practitioners’ level to the researchers, academics and other affiliations. Having as a starting point of the discussions the tools created by the 6 cities within the framework of the IcARUS project, very important presentations and interactions took place, focusing on the following topic areas: Innovations inPolicing Tactics and Anti-Harassment Initiatives based on information provided by citizens, Unveiling the Power of Social Innovation in Urban Security, Preventing Radicalization Leading to Violent Extremism: Arts and Culture at the helm of Innovation, Building Resilient Communities: Fighting Organized Crime and Fostering Social Cohesion, Community-Led Solutions: Fostering Young People’s Engagement and Collaboration in Preventing Juvenile Delinquency, Evaluating Urban Security Initiatives: Exploring Challenges and Opportunities.

Among the many interesting opinions expressed, the phrase “choose your battles”, on the kinds of criminal activities that stakeholders could fight was a shocking yet realistic suggestion, since not all forms of crime could be simultaneously addressed.
Moreover, the important need for consideration of the “balloon effect” on the possibility of transfer of criminal activities to other areas has been a not to be omitted point for every decision maker. As many recommendations for the cities to respond and prevent crime, were put on the table, these could be summarized on the need for monitoring, scheduling the objectives to achieve and the design of a broader-scale plan on the intervention.

What an exciting, deep learning and innovative journey it has been!
The future of IcARUS is about to begin!