Living in a safe environment provides a sense of comfort. A safe environment is partly created by the measures taken by governments to eliminate unsafe situations. However, a secure society is primarily built by the people and the community itself. Due to the increasing individualization of society, we observe that efforts in social security are increasingly directed toward initiatives in social innovation.
Social Safety
There's Work to be Done
Take care of a Safe & Sound Society
Safety is not something we can take for granted; it requires our active engagement.
Social innovation aimed at creating a safer and more secure society is an intriguing topic, largely focused on awareness and personal motivation, often sparked by the question, "What's in it for me?"
It's clear that the individuals living and working in a community are crucial to fostering a "Safe & Sound Society".
We recommend utilizing Human-Centered Design methodologies.
Step away from your desk and engage with the community to understand their needs and motivations.
For instance, consider a clean city: its cleanliness is not solely the result of refuse collectors' efforts, but primarily due to the residents who maintain their homes and gardens.
Another effective approach is "Designing Out Crime."
For insights, consider watching the presentation by social designer Professor Kees Dorst.
Knowledge Sharing
- An app where everyone can indicate where it is safe / unsafe: SafetiPin;
- By a group of women in India set up website against indecent behavior towards women: Safecity India;
- Visit the website SafeCity, where you can find all kind of solutions;
- More and more apps are being built to involve citizens in safety. These apps must comply with "HOOKED" if citizens want to use these apps as a habit. This is a scientifically substantiated book by Nir Eyal, see video: Video about HOOKED;
- The T4 model for the implementation of technological innovation with social innovation T4 model;
- Visit website Sydney university DesignOutcrime.com;
- Visit website Design to fight crime of the Salford University;
- Watch this video of TISIL / Midpoint;
- Watch this animation of RSA about The Empathic Civilisation.
Innovation Challenges
Safety is a feeling that requires balancing concern and carelessness.
Creating a sense of safety both personally and within a community presents an innovative challenge.
The methodology of Human-Centered Design can assist us in this pursuit. You can download the Human Centered Design Kit here.
While security may seem self-evident, it is often more complex than it appears.
I attempted to convey this in a lecture at Ahoy Rotterdam. We cannot simply "nail down the goal" as doing so would eliminate the competition that drives innovation.
We cannot isolate ourselves from the world by building bunkers; such actions would deprive us of a social life.
Therefore, we must continuously seek a balance in our social security, understand our risks, and examine our assumptions.
This is the essence of the innovation challenge.
