Safe and Sound Cities

Startseite
Schweiz
Basel
Safe and Sound Cities

Catalysing youth-driven action for safer cities, through capacity building and co-creation.

29/05/2026

🎉 S²Cities will be at the African Youth SDGs Summit in Accra, Ghana this year!

🌍 The African Youth SDGs Summit is Africa’s largest youth forum focused on advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. It brings together young leaders, development experts, governments, UN representatives, non-profits, and private sector actors to lead change and development in the continent.

💡 With S²Cities’ recent expansion to Africa through the addition of two new cities — Cape Coast and Sekondi-Takoradi, the Summit offers an important opportunity to strengthen regional partnerships and engage in conversations on youth participation in urban decision-making and advocacy.

🤝 The programme also looks forward to connecting with members of its Global Learning Network, while building new collaborations and exchanging ideas with change-makers working towards safer, more inclusive, and resilient cities across Africa and beyond.

Stay tuned for updates and highlights from the Summit! 💜🌱

African Youth SDGs Summit

25/05/2026

✨ Our spotlight series continues, as we showcase contributions from the special issue of The Journal of Public Space ()—capturing insights from two years of collective research, learning, and youth-led action across our global programme.

Spotlighted this time: “Urban and Youth Transformations in Envigado: Connection with Oneself, Others, and the Environment.”

In this article, María D. Moreno Álvarez from our local partner Fundación Mi Sangre presents a qualitative methodology to explore the S²Cities programme’s development and impact in Envigado, Colombia.

The methodology in this study is structured across three interconnected levels: individual, relational, and structural. The results highlight how empowering young people as active agents of change enables them to influence not only their immediate environment, but also broader governance structures while promoting more inclusive and participatory urban spaces.

💡This paper offers valuable insights for urban planners, designers, and policymakers that may be interested in the effects and advantages of local youth-led movements, and participation in urban change and governance, with properties that can be replicated and scaled around the globe.

📖 Read the paper: https://www.journalpublicspace.org/index.php/jps/article/view/1856 [Link in Bio]

Stay tuned as we continue to feature each contribution from this special issue.

12/05/2026

✨We’re here with another feature in our spotlight series showcasing contributions from the special issue of The Journal of Public Space ()—capturing insights from two years of collective research, learning, and youth-led action across our global programme.

Spotlighted this time: “From Local Voices to Global Impact: Crafting MEL for Youth-Led Placemaking in Cross-Country Programmes.”

In this article, Juan Carlos Muñoz Mora, Estefany Peña Rojas, and Andrés Felipe Sanchez Saldarriaga from our global MEL partner discuss an adaptive MEL framework, drawing from the S2Cities programme.

The study highlights the necessity of real-time adaptation to local youth experiences, the need to balance standardized evaluation with localized indicators, and the critical role of young people as co-creators in MEL processes, underscoring the importance of a flexible yet rigorous framework that captures urban dynamics’ evolving nature.

💡This paper offers valuable insights for urban planners, designers, and policymakers that may be interested in the development of MEL frameworks and processes with flexibility and provisions for youth participation, with properties that can be replicated and scaled around the globe.

📖 Read the paper: https://www.journalpublicspace.org/index.php/jps/article/view/1854 [Link in Bio]

Stay tuned as we continue to feature each contribution from this special issue.

06/05/2026

🚨 Opportunity Alert: Join S²Cities as a Global Convening Support Partner 🌍✨

🗓 Deadline: 31 May 2026

S²Cities is inviting applications from organisations to help organise and manage the Global Convening in 2027 as a Global Convening Support Partner!

The selected partner will:

🔹Support Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) in developing a suitable format / approach for the 2027 Global Convening which meets the intended objectives (including in-person convening components as well as the scope of VR and digital formats).

🔹Lead all event management logistics including procurement of necessary venues and materials, managing attendees, etc.

🔹Help document learnings and highlights on behalf of GIB and S²Cities in alignment with the programme’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework.

🔹Work with the S²Cities Global Youth Advocacy Partner, to develop strategies to activate and expand the S²Cities Global Learning Network (GLN).

👉 Grant amount available: 112,000 CHF

Eligibility: All organisations that are able to meet the above criteria and/or have experience organising events across multiple countries/cities and platforms are welcome to apply.

📥 For more details and to download the RFP, visit: https://bit.ly/42PXphT

05/05/2026

On April 18, two groups of young people from Basel, Switzerland took the stage at the Youth Innovation Awards Ceremony to pitch ideas to improve safety for LGBTQIA+ communities in their city.🏳️‍🌈

Presenting before a jury of experts in q***r visibility and mental health and an audience of government, private sector, and young people—the teams Lavender Sanctuary and Marsha’s Winkel showcased initiatives focused on helping people find q***r-friendly businesses and creating spaces that are inclusive, accessible, and safe ✨

Behind the scenes, the teams received extensive mentoring and hands-on support to refine their ideas, strengthening their concepts, mapping their city, and building a deeper systems understanding of safety challenges 🧠📍

Both teams were awarded seed funding to bring their ideas to life and begin implementation 🚀

Follow on Instagram for more updates on how these youth-led initiatives come to life!

28/04/2026

🎉 S²Cities welcomes new local implementation partners from Ghana!

🌟 With the addition of two new programme cities, we are excited to introduce the partners who will drive local impact and enable city-wide, youth-led engagement and safety innovation in Sekondi-Takoradi and Cape Coast.

👉 In Sekondi-Takoradi, Life Relief Foundation will lead the local consortium engaging youth and delivering capacity-strengthening efforts. The organisation is committed to advancing the health and well-being of women, children, and underserved communities, working across areas to reach those who need it most. They will be supported by ATRA Consultancy, specialising in organisational development, research, and training, and LoGig, which brings expertise in technological enterprise solutions.

👉 In Cape Coast, Play Soccer Ghana will the lead local implementation consortium. As a sport-for-development organisation, they have experience running youth empowerment programmes using football as a tool to foster young people’s growth, leadership, and community engagement. They will be supported by iSpace Foundation, a leading startup accelerator and innovation hub.

🤝✨ We look forward to collaborating with our new partners to build local capacity, mobilise young people, and support youth-led movements that are transforming cities into safer, more urban environments.

🔔 Stay tuned for updates as implementation begins in our two new S²Cities programme cities! 💜🌱

22/04/2026

✨🎉 Congratulations to Move As One Coalition—an S²Cities coalition partner supporting programme implementation in Naga—for winning the Grand Prize at the World Resources Institute (WRI) Ross Prize for Cities, selected from over 300 applicants across 77 countries!

🌟 The coalition was recognised for its impactful work advancing sustainable, safe, and inclusive mobility, alongside meaningful traffic reforms.

In collaboration with local youth engagement partner WeSolve Foundation, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Naga City Government, the organisation has supported young people in bringing their initiative to life—introducing road markings and lane partitions along MT Villanueva Street in Naga as part of a youth-led tactical urbanism effort.

This is just the beginning, with more traffic safety improvements on the horizon to create safer, more efficient, and better-regulated streets for all!

Safe and Sound Cities - Naga

22/04/2026

✨ We’re here with another feature in our spotlight series showcasing contributions from the S²Cities special issue of The Journal of Public Space—capturing insights from two years of collective research, learning, and youth-led action across our global programme.

Spotlighted this time: “Youth in Placemaking: Barriers and Benefits, Lessons from Cuenca, Bandung and Envigado.”

In this article, Viviana A. Cordero-Vinueza (University of Groningen) and Vija Viese (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) discuss youth-led placemaking efforts in Ecuador, Indonesia, and Colombia through interviews, focus groups, and secondary data, to map out the benefits of youth public presence.

The study reveals hurdles related to collaborating with stakeholders, persisting stigma towards youth, and linguistic challenges, but the resulting benefits of these efforts reported increased use of space, skills, sense of safety, connectedness, and youth agency.

💡This paper offers valuable insights for urban planners, designers, and policymakers that may be interested in placemaking projects for the safety and security of young people in cities, with properties that can be replicated and scaled around the globe.

📖 Read the paper: https://www.journalpublicspace.org/index.php/jps/article/view/1852

Stay tuned as we continue to feature each contribution from this special issue

17/04/2026

🌟 Join the S²Cities Global Learning Network

👉 Applications are now open for public sector agencies, non-profits, academia, and private organisations to be part of a global network advancing youth-led urban transformation.

🌐 Since 2021, the Safe and Sound Cities Programme (S²Cities) by GIB has been empowering young people to co-create safer, more inclusive, and resilient cities through real, locally grounded solutions. 🌱

🤝 🌏 Launched in 2023, the Global Learning Network (GLN) brings together cities, youth leaders, and institutions to drive urban safety through collaboration, knowledge exchange, and tested implementation models across regions.

💡 As a GLN member you get -

• Access to cross-city knowledge exchange and global best practices

• Opportunities to collaborate with city governments, youth leaders, and experts

• Participation in global convenings, workshops, and learning exchanges

• Visibility for your work through a shared knowledge platform

• Pathways to build partnerships and co-develop impactful urban safety solutions

💫 📣 Join us in shaping cross-city partnerships, shared learning, and impactful action to create safer urban environments for young people! Be part of the movement—apply now. Visit https://www.s2cities.org/blog/opportunity-to-join-the-s2cities-global-learning-network to learn more and apply! 💜

Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) | Fondation Botnar | Cordilleran Youth Center | WeSolve Foundation | Huasipichanga | Safe and Sound Cities - Naga | Universidad EAFIT | Kami Ruang Ketiga | Fundacion Mi Sangre

Adresse

ElisabethenStr. 22
Basel
4051

Webseite

https://s2cities.org/

Benachrichtigungen

Lassen Sie sich von uns eine E-Mail senden und seien Sie der erste der Neuigkeiten und Aktionen von Safe and Sound Cities erfährt. Ihre E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht für andere Zwecke verwendet und Sie können sich jederzeit abmelden.