Day: 1 September 2023

2023 Summer School: a first edition to build tomorrow’s safe cities

From 24 to 25 August, 2023, the ICPC had the pleasure of hosting the first edition of its Summer School at the Centre St-Pierre in Montreal, which focused on the theme of “Urban safety in action: building tomorrow’s safe cities“.

The central theme of this first edition was to highlight prevention in urban travel and support competent management when it comes to the safety of urban areas.   

More than twenty people attended the presentations, which covered topics such as urban safety as an approach based on living spaces, as an approach based on decision-making spaces, and crime prevention strategies for urban mobility. Also, the participants discussed the recommendations suggested by the ICPC and its collaborators, as well as took part in a collective formulation of possible solutions to the difficulties they regularly encounter in their day-to-day work in and around Montreal.  

It was an honour to welcome Paola Porcelli, coordinator at the YMCA and specialist in mental health and intercultural approaches, as well as Sophie Paquin, director of undergraduate programmes in urban planning at the ESG at UQAM and member of the International Chair on the Uses and Practices of the Intelligent City, as speakers and guests for these two days. 

We would like to thank all the participants, as well as the guest speakers, with whom we had fruitful discussions and who contributed to the success of the event.  

We look forward to seeing you again next year! 

Two activities offered in summer 2023 by RÉSAL as part of its community of practice

As part of building the community of practice of the Réseau d’échange et de soutien aux actions locales (RÉSAL), of which the ICPC is a member and coordinator, two thematic training cycles were held in summer 2023. One cycle focused on “Restorative justice prevention with young people”, on 7 June, and the other cycle focused on the theme of “Preventing violence committed against LGBTQ+ youth”, on 14 June at the Centre St-Pierre (part 1) and on 31 August 2023 online (part 2).  

The RÉSAL community of practice brings together field workers, community organisations and institutions working with young people in the Greater Montreal area. The aim of these activities, relating to violence committed and suffered by young people aged 12 to 25, was to equip participants to deal with the various problems encountered in their day-to-day work.   

Prevention through restorative justice with young people, Catherine Lapierre, Director of Restorative Justice Services at Equijustice and Laurence Wauthier, Coordinator of Equijustice – Montreal West. .

The aim of this first training session was to provide people affected by crime (victims, perpetrators, witnesses, family members) or conflict with the tools they need to engage in a restorative and mediation process, and to highlight the principles of restorative justice and its importance in offering confidential, safe and respectful listening and discussion forums for all concerned.  

Preventing violence committed against LGBTQ+ youth, Julie-Maude Beauchesne, psychosocial counsellor and trainer, and Olivia Baker, head of the ProAllié programme at Fondation Émergence

For this second training course, in a context of increasing violence against young people from the LGBTQ+ community due to homophobia and transphobia, the workshops provided tools to help prevent such violence, by helping to create an environment where acceptance and inclusion are valued, and to develop the ability to detect problematic situations quickly as well as the means to provide support and assistance.  

A big thank you to the invited speakers and participants for these exchanges that contributed to the success of the events!   

A series of activities by the RÉSAL community of practice will be scheduled for autumn/winter 2023.