Safe City Tour: Youth Power in Aalborg
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City stories
Udgivet: 18 Nov - 2020
The Safe City Tour travels to Aalborg
Developing safe urban spaces, building strong alliances, empowering youth leadership and creating a child friendly municipality in Aalborg.
The second week of the ‘Safe City Tour’ travelled to the Danish city of Aalborg. During the safe city tour week, Aalborg invited the local and global public on a virtual visit, where they showcased the cities’ strategic priorities and provided insights into ongoing projects to prevent radicalisation and division, and to make Aalborg a safer and more inclusive city for all.
Images: Aalborg Municipality
Within the Nordic Safe Cities Alliance, Aalborg’s ‘Safe City Action‘ focuses on exploring new practices to reach individuals with anti-democratic sentiments in religious and far-right extremist environments, and on how to prevent extremism amongst people from higher socio-economic backgrounds. Since 2013, Aalborg’s broader strategy to prevent radicalisation and extremism has been based on early prevention and has been integrated in existing crime prevention efforts. Aalborg takes an interdisciplinary and holistic approach founded in strong cross-sectorial alliances, and prioritises the involvement of local youth voices in decision making processes.
On the first stop of Aalborg’s Safe City Tour, the city took us on a virtual walk through Karolinelund. Karolinelund is commonly known as the ‘People’s Park’ – to ensure that the park lives up to its name, Aalborg has put the people at the center of the development process.
As part of the NSC Safe Spaces Task Force, Aalborg has examined the needs and wants of different user groups. In the video below you can hear how the city is developing a park that is inclusive, safe, welcoming and functional for all groups, including those most vulnerable, to make Karolinelund a true ‘People’s Park’.
As part of Aalborg’s focus on being an inclusive and safe place for all, the city is working with Unicef Denmark to become a ‘Child friendly municipality’.
“Young people are showing what democracy is all about – daring to fight for what you believe in and changing what you think is wrong” – States Karen Hækkerup, Secretary General of Unicef Denmark in her congratulatory message to the newly elected Aalborg Youth council.
Hækkerup further commends Aalborg municipality for committing to not just letting the youth be passive observers but to truly co-create and empower the youth to have their voices heard.
Being a ‘Child friendly municipality’ means that local youth in Aalborg will take part in analysing the current situation and helping to develop new initiatives and activities, which will make the city safer and a more secure place to be a child and young person.
As expressed by the newly elected Chairman of the Youth Council, Camille Jones, “Even though we are in the middle of a pandemic, we will still have a significant impact on society.”
Pictured: Chairman Camille Jones and Vice chairman Victor Brogaard Petersen © Aalborg Municipality
In the Aalborg Youth Council, young people between 13 – 19 are given the opportunity to use their voices to gain influence and flex their democratic muscles. They are involved in budget negotiations, Mayor’s meetings, development of overall policies, strategies and offers for children and young people. In short, they help to make Aalborg Municipality a safe and secure place for children and young people.
To round of the Safe City Tour week, Aalborg took us behind the scenes of how the city collaborates across sectors to ensure that children thrive and feel safe.
Aalborg uses the SSP model where Schools, Social Services, and Police, as well as psychologists and health workers share information and coordinate efforts to support young people. Despite Covid-19, these efforts continue. Aalborg arranges weekly virtual cross-sectorial situation meetings, which allow different actors to share information and concerns and to develop collective solutions.