KEMEA takes IcARUS to Vilnius and Lyon!

Last June, KE.ME.A. took part in the celebrations for the 15th anniversary of the public order division of the city of Vilnius, where the KEMEA representative showcased the IcARUS project and engaged in discussions on how the project will advance the capacity of the cities not only to respond but also to prevent crime.

The main points that were raised pertained on the one hand to the project ambitions and outputs, namely the fact that IcARUS aims to develop a toolkit for urban security governance regarding Juvenile Delinquency, Organised Crime, Radicalisation, & Safe Public Spaces while taking into account the diversity of stakeholders, Cyber/Technology intricacies; Gender Issues; Transnational themes. It is a 4 year project coordinated by Efus, with a consortium of seventeen (17) European partners, including universities, research institutions, local authorities, civil society and private sector organisations.

It was mentioned that the IcARUS toolkit is not yet publicly available, as the project is still ongoing and the solutions are being developed and tested (dashboard, platform, app, etc) but more information is available on all our social media platforms, but it will consist of 6 different tools, each one being the product of the corresponding City Police.

Then, the discussion focused on how Municipal Police departments both contribute to and benefit from the IcARUS project. First, they contribute by providing data, expertise and feedback on current urban security issues and challenges, and they participate in co-designing and testing innovative solutions for urban security governance that are tailored to their local contexts and needs.

In turn, local police departments will benefit from IcARUS by accessing the toolkit and learning from best practices and experiences of other partners and stakeholders, while also being able to improve their capacity and skills for urban security governance, and enhance their cooperation and coordination with other actors at the local, national, and European levels The Vilnius Public Order Division, as Vilnius is already a member of EFUS and participated in the International Dissemination Conference of IcARUS held in Riga, Latvia in June 2022, expressed their interest in collaborating more closely with the project, by being included in all upcoming events too, and in creating further synergies with the six Municipal Police Departments that are members of IcARUS. In addition, KEMEA will take part in the Council for European studies Conference in Lyon, France next July where we will present a paper on ‘The contribution of the IcARUS project in re-thinking Urban Security in Europe’!

The paper will focus on the added value of incorporating the new knowledge that the IcARUS project generates and the ways that it may contribute to urban security challenges by offering evidence and lessons learned from the validation of the toolkit in the pertinent urban settings.

Thus, it will communicate how IcARUS enhances urban security and social cohesion in Europe by promoting a comprehensive and holistic approach to combatting radicalisation and other security struggles.