The 6th Meeting of the Partnership for Security in Public Spaces took place virtually from the 17-19 June 2020. The meeting was divided into a plenary session on the morning of the first day, followed by a series of technical sessions spread over three days. The goal of the meeting was to set the state of play of the Action Plan, reflect on the feedback process and discuss each Action so as to be able to develop a set of next steps under each Action.

Plenary session, 17 June 2020

The plenary session focused on setting the current state of play of the Partnership, setting out the next steps to be taken and highlighting the importance of Partner involvement at this crucial stage in the development of the Action Plan, which has already seen the design of a set of draft Actions and is currently in the middle of its Public Feedback process.

The session kicked off with an opening by the Technical Secretariat, Partnership Coordinators and Gabriel Onaca from DG REGIO. Participants were talked through the Public Feedback process, the working method of the Partnership, the use of expert days and advised on how to best work towards Action implementation.

An open discussion followed, also conveying information on relevant documents, funding opportunities and upcoming events that could be of interest to Partners. The session was closed by the Coordinators, who also laid out the schedule, structure and purpose of the technical sessions that followed.

Technical sessions, 17-19 June 2020

There were 5 technical sessions during which Action Leaders presented the work plans for their Action. Presentations were followed by Q&A with participants, and the sessions were open to all Partners. They took place as follows:

Wednesday 17 June:

• Action 4 - Develop a capacity building training scheme about integrated urban security
• Action 5 - Measure the impact of social cohesion on security in public spaces

Thursday 18 June:

• Action 1- Developing a Framework for a Self-Assessment tool dedicated to Urban Authorities
• Action 6 - Develop guidance for architectural spatial design (security by design)

Friday 19 June:

• Action 2 - Recommendations on EU security strategy, multi-level governance and funding
• Action 3 - Evaluate the application of AI technologies

Upon completion of the technical sessions, Coordinators thanked all participants for the rich insights which will be used to further refine the Actions. A follow up meeting was organised with the Technical Secretariat and Action leaders, where the main takeaways from the sessions above will be discussed, and a series of next steps specific to each Action elaborated.

Update: The Public Feedback is open until the 9 September. You can find more information here.

For further details on the draft Actions, please follow the links below:

• Introduction to the draft actions
• ACTION 1 – Developing a Framework for a Self-Assessment tool dedicated to Urban Authorities
• ACTION 2 – Recommendations on EU security strategy, multi-level governance and funding
• ACTION 3 – Evaluate the application of Artificial Intelligence technologies
• ACTION 4 – Develop a capacity building training scheme about integrated urban security
• ACTION 6 – Develop guidance for architectural and spatial design (security by design)