LUCI at the Security, Democracy & Cities Conference 2024 in Brussels

From 20 to 22 March 2024, LUCI contributed to the “Security, Democracy & Cities” conference in Brussels that brought together an impressive assembly of European local and regional authorities. Just before the upcoming European Parliament elections in June 2024, it provided a strong transpartisan platform to enhance safety and foster social cohesion in cities.

The conference had an extensive agenda, with discussions spanning a wide array of topics related to the urban security, from local responses to drug trafficking, to crime prevention models, to crisis management. Elected officials, safety and security civil servants, researchers and civil society actors, took part from many countries to exchange on these issues which are a strong matter of concern for cities today.

One of the topics discussed was “How to develop a local nightlife governance strategy”. Mark Burton-Page, General director of LUCI brought up the recent evolutions in urban lighting that affect all cities after dark. One of the challenges of nightlife today is to keep highly qualitative atmospheres – that enhance the feeling of security – while optimising energy efficiency, tackling light pollution, supporting health and wellbeing. In this matter, the LUCI Declaration is clear: we need quality over quantity.

The 2024 edition of this conference, organised by Efus in partnership with safe.brussels, builds on the legacy of previous gatherings. Many enriching discussions will hopefully continue between the urban lighting world and the urban security world, as they cross paths at multiple levels, and clearly have shared values as well as their specificities.

©Patrick Kedzia – Efus SDC24 conference – March 2024