“I have felt left behind by the adults in the city but thanks to the programme I feel involved and connected to my city. We share the initiatives from young people from other cities and what changes we are willing to make.“
Improving young people’s safety and wellbeing in urban environments
The S²Cities Programme, led by the Global Infrastructure Basel (GIB) Foundation , catalyses urban innovation by supporting young people to address local safety and wellbeing challenges in their cities. The programme fosters youth-led initiatives designed to transform neglected public spaces, conserve the environment, provide mental health services, and more.
S²Cities is operating in six cities; Envigado in Colombia, Bandung in Indonesia, Cuenca and Ambato in Ecuador, and Baguio and Naga (Camarines Sur) in the Philippines.
We are proud to support the S²Cities Programme as it makes a meaningful impact in the lives of young people across the world.
Within the next 30 years, as much as 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas, with an increasing number of young people growing up in cities. The safety and inclusivity of urban environments and public spaces impacts the wellbeing of all residents.
For young people to truly feel safe, they must be included as critical parts of urban development problem-solving and decision-making processes . Therefore, S2Cities aims to:
- Support young people and cities to better understand local safety challenges, through better monitoring, measurement, data and direct engagement with youth voices and local government.
- Strengthen local capacities to improve urban safety by providing skills training, mentoring support, technical expertise and access to networks that enable meaningful engagement and empowerment of young people.
- Engage young people and cities in co-creative innovation processes that lead to youth ideas being put into action, and include young people as key decision-makers when it comes to their safety.
- Use these engagement activities to positively influence inclusive decision-making and the preconditions of system change that affect safety for young people in urban environments.