UN-Habitat’s first World Urban Forum to focus on safer nights partners with VibeLab and Efus

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VibeLab and Efus are hosting a series of sessions at the World Urban Forum in Katowice, that look at safer urban nights.

This year at  (WUF11) in Katowice Poland, in partnership with The European Forum for Urban Security (Efus), The Women in Cities Initiative (WICI), UN Habitat-Safer Cities, The City of Katowice, Safetipin and the Global Parliament of Mayors, VibeLab is hosting two key events that will examine a holistic approach to safer urban nights, showcase good practices from cities and cultural creators around the world, and finally, launch VibeLab and UN-Habitat Safer Cities’ new SAFETY LAB, with clear opportunities for involvement and further engagement.

  • Night Walk: Exploring nighttime safety through a gender-equitable lens. In partnership with UN-Habitat, Efus, WICI, Safetipin and many more.
    Sunday 26th June 21.00- 23.00
    Start: main entrance to Spodek, Wojciecha Korfantego 35, 40-005 Katowice, Poland
    End: Mariacka Street
    Register Here
  • Good Nights (WUF Networking Event session NE87: VibeLab/Efus) Rethinking Urban Safety, Wellbeing, and Community Through Culture After Dark
    Tuesday 28th June, 16:30-18:00
    World Urban Forum: Multifunction Hall Room 7
    Speaker info here
  • ​​Nighttime networking mixer
    Tuesday 28th June, 19:00-21:00
    Maly Kredens, Świętego Stanisława, 40-014 Katowice, Poland 
    Join us after the panel for an informal mixer to continue the conversation over drinks. Made possible by our friends and partners at Jaegermeister.
    Please feel free to invite additional guests and let us know if you can attend here

It is impossible to consider safety in cities without thinking about the night— yet for too long the topic of the night has been neglected in urban forums. This is the first time the UN Habitat’s World Urban Forum (WUF11), has concentrated its discourse and activities on improving the night in cities. 

The WUF was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies. 

The Night Walk, Katowice, Poland 

Sunday 26th June 21.00- 23.00

The UN-Habitat Safer Cities with Efus, WICI, VibeLab and Safetipin will conduct an audit walk and discussion to explore nighttime safety through a gender-equitable lens. 

Using the My Safetipin app, with Katowice as a testing ground, this night walk will crowd-source information on women and gender minorities’ lived experience of the night, and use the city as a case study to learn about mobility and safety for the vulnerable – and thus the wellbeing of all.  

This walk will use a simple and powerful, multilingual technical tool to gather insights from Katowice residents and visitors alike, followed by an open discussion with safety and nighttime practitioners from around the world on the topics of mitigating unsafe nights, creating safer public spaces and improving mobility for all.  Register here.

Celebrate strides made in gendered, nighttime and mobility safety approaches – join the night walk from 21:00 pm on 26th June in Katowice.

Rethinking Urban Safety, Wellbeing, and Community Through Culture After Dark

This event is the first session in WUF history with a focus on urban nighttime. Co-presented by VibeLab, European Forum for Urban Security (Efus) and the Efus Women in Cities Initiative (WICI), the Global Parliament of Mayors, and UN-Habitat Safer Cities. 

Speakers:

Through a series of lightning talks, followed by panel discussion and exchange between panellists and members of the Global Parliament of Mayors, this session will seek to establish a shared definition and understanding of “safer nights,” and then showcase examples of good practices from cities worldwide. In addition to this contributors will be asked to propose potential indicators that can provide deeper insight into urban safety and security beyond traditional crime metrics. As UN-Habitat’s Urban Safety Monitor continues to evolve, these proposed metrics will feed directly into Lab activities of generating and validating new indicators for urban safety and wellbeing.

Next Steps: