Session 14 - Resident-based safety planning in small municipalities
From Vania Ceccato
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Chair: Mateja Mihinjac, Executive Director – International CPTED Association; Criminology/CPTED Research & Consulting, Slovenia
The conceptual framework for resident-based Safety planning in small municipalities
Mateja Mihinjac, Executive Director – International CPTED Association; Criminology/CPTED Research & Consulting, Slovenia
Recognising that rural and small municipal contexts encompass diverse types of settings and safety concerns, this presentation will define the type and size of small municipalities represented in this parallel session. The three panelists cumulatively hold research and practical experience from places like small Arctic and Australian Aboriginal communities, small rural villages and towns across North America and Europe, remote hiking trails and fire lookouts in forest and alpine regions. Drawing from this experience the panelists recognize the importance of building local capacity that turns into collective action for promoting safety and liveability in small rural municipalities. All three panelists in this session use SafeGrowth, a resident-based neighbourhood planning theory for neighbourhood liveability, as a model for both understanding the mechanisms behind capacity building and for developing capacity through resident activation. SafeGrowth theory employs four core principles: (a) action-based practice, (b) social ecology, (c) neighbourhood activation, and (d) socio-technical systems that work in tandem. This presentation will elaborate on each of these principles to present a conceptual framework for resident safety planning in small municipalities.
Crime reduction through neighbourhood activation in small municipalities
Gregory Saville, AlterNation Consulting LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA
Crime thrives in small communities with dysfunctional socio-ecological conditions, such as weak collective efficacy and poor social cohesion. In such places, opportunities for crime are rampant and social controls are non-existent. Tinkering at the edges of crime causation through CPTED strategies or modifying the routine activities of residents will make little difference. These findings were uncovered through a multi-year ethnographic study in the indigenous villages of Canada’s eastern Arctic in the 1990s. In subsequent years the SafeGrowth planning theory was developed to activate residents with neighbourhood-based crime reduction strategies and collaborative community design. This presentation will highlight the SafeGrowth method and how it has been successfully delivered in small neighbourhoods across North America. The method offers tremendous potential for small communities, especially in helping local residents learn how to develop their own plans for long term safety.
Building local capacity for change in rural Canada and Australia
Tarah Hodgkinson, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland,Australia
Rural communities are often romanticized as idyllic places where everyone knows each other, and residents are generally safe. However, many rural areas suffer from a myriad of problems including domestic violence, impaired driving, drug use and assault. These issues often go unaddressed. Reducing crime in small municipalities can be difficult if local residents are unorganized and unable to come together to engage in informal social control and collective action. In this presentation, I discuss building capacity at the local level in two rural contexts: North Battleford, Canada and Roma, Australia. Both of these small communities have high rates of crime compared to their urban counterparts. By using SafeGrowth, a co-designed planning and community safety philosophy and methodology, key stakeholders learn to connect about important safety issues and plan local solutions to local problems. Importantly, their work has begun to translate into improved safety, cohesion and capacity that is sustainable.
The conceptual framework for resident-based Safety planning in small municipalities
Mateja Mihinjac, Executive Director – International CPTED Association; Criminology/CPTED Research & Consulting, Slovenia
Recognising that rural and small municipal contexts encompass diverse types of settings and safety concerns, this presentation will define the type and size of small municipalities represented in this parallel session. The three panelists cumulatively hold research and practical experience from places like small Arctic and Australian Aboriginal communities, small rural villages and towns across North America and Europe, remote hiking trails and fire lookouts in forest and alpine regions. Drawing from this experience the panelists recognize the importance of building local capacity that turns into collective action for promoting safety and liveability in small rural municipalities. All three panelists in this session use SafeGrowth, a resident-based neighbourhood planning theory for neighbourhood liveability, as a model for both understanding the mechanisms behind capacity building and for developing capacity through resident activation. SafeGrowth theory employs four core principles: (a) action-based practice, (b) social ecology, (c) neighbourhood activation, and (d) socio-technical systems that work in tandem. This presentation will elaborate on each of these principles to present a conceptual framework for resident safety planning in small municipalities.
Crime reduction through neighbourhood activation in small municipalities
Gregory Saville, AlterNation Consulting LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA
Crime thrives in small communities with dysfunctional socio-ecological conditions, such as weak collective efficacy and poor social cohesion. In such places, opportunities for crime are rampant and social controls are non-existent. Tinkering at the edges of crime causation through CPTED strategies or modifying the routine activities of residents will make little difference. These findings were uncovered through a multi-year ethnographic study in the indigenous villages of Canada’s eastern Arctic in the 1990s. In subsequent years the SafeGrowth planning theory was developed to activate residents with neighbourhood-based crime reduction strategies and collaborative community design. This presentation will highlight the SafeGrowth method and how it has been successfully delivered in small neighbourhoods across North America. The method offers tremendous potential for small communities, especially in helping local residents learn how to develop their own plans for long term safety.
Building local capacity for change in rural Canada and Australia
Tarah Hodgkinson, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland,Australia
Rural communities are often romanticized as idyllic places where everyone knows each other, and residents are generally safe. However, many rural areas suffer from a myriad of problems including domestic violence, impaired driving, drug use and assault. These issues often go unaddressed. Reducing crime in small municipalities can be difficult if local residents are unorganized and unable to come together to engage in informal social control and collective action. In this presentation, I discuss building capacity at the local level in two rural contexts: North Battleford, Canada and Roma, Australia. Both of these small communities have high rates of crime compared to their urban counterparts. By using SafeGrowth, a co-designed planning and community safety philosophy and methodology, key stakeholders learn to connect about important safety issues and plan local solutions to local problems. Importantly, their work has begun to translate into improved safety, cohesion and capacity that is sustainable.
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