Our safety exploratory walks use a situational and participative approach combined with technical analysis tailored to each context. This combined analysis is particularly useful to analyse safety issues at stake in some neighbourhoods taking into account the physical environment -street lights, façades, litter bins, the general state of the public space- as well as broader social aspects.
The individual sense of safety of residents is taken into account, as well as contextual relevant factors, for instance the time of day. They are tools for public participation, social engagement, awareness raising, dissemination and transfer of knowledge.
Exploratory walks were initially created in the 1990s in Montreal, Canada, as a way to allow women to recognize and make known to decision makers their subjective experience of urban space. They have become a tool used among others by UN-Women Safer Cities Program.
The exploratory walks we carry out involve participatory action research through which persons and their needs are put at the centre. We customize them to the timelines, resources, priorities and objectives of interested organizations and institutions. We have implemented them for governments such as the Cities of Madrid and Valencia, for private organizations working in urban development, other research organizations, NGOs and representatives from the third sector, and also for citizen’s associations.
We have organized women only and also mixed walks. In all of them we have integrated a gender perspective throughout the process, from the initial design stages, to the drafting of the final report with its diagnostic, conclusions and ad-hoc technical recommendations. Including technical ad-hoc recommendations addressing the relevant decision making bodies with relevant competence is a very important part of the process.
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