Barcelona is to host the final conference in Europe’s Secur’cities project on 3 and 4 November. The goal of the project is to strengthen prevention and preserve public space so that it can be used for major events and large numbers of people can gather there.
The terrorist attacks and other critical incidents that have occurred in various European cities in recent years have highlighted the need to redesign current security strategies and develop new practices and methodologies to protect citizens and, at the same time, allow people to freely enjoy public space in normal conditions.
In this context, the European Commission created the Internal Security Fund Police (ISGP), designed to help cities strengthen security and recognise the key role of local authorities in prevention and the protection of the population against terrorist threats.
Barcelona and Lyon gained ISFP funding in 2019 to launch the Secur’cities project, the goal being to improve the protection of public spaces hosting events or activities with large numbers of people against critical incidents. The three-year project had a budget of 2.78 million euros, with 90% of this amount coming from the European Commission via the ISFP fund.
The final Secur’cities conference is to be held at the Fundació Miró on 3 and 4 November and will present the activities carried out as part of the project, with input from key stakeholders in the public security sector from the Catalan capital and Lyon, and with over a hundred people attending.