Weekend Musing: Less, More and Mozart

These slipped in over the transom in the last days here in Helsinki, and while some of you will be well on top of all three let me take the risk and share them with those  who may not have spotted them  for your weekend reading, listening and musing pleasure .

International Advisory Council

While we have been working on these issues in many places and for a number of years, including both on the technology and the (to us far more important) policy side, we nonetheless do not hesitate to acknowledge that we are going to need help and guidance over the course of the year ahead if we are to be really useful on this important  and highly challenging topic. Fortunately the field is developing quite swiftly now, at long last,  and a new expert consensus  is growing up among those working on these issues in leading cities and groups —  so we have set out to tap this leading edge of international expertise by means of an informal International Advisory Council,  which we are pleased to introduce to you here in working draft form today.  As you will see this work is still very much in progress, but if you have any suggestions for us, it would be good to hear from you.  And all the more so if you may have a candidate for us to complete this world level group.

Who is checking into the Safe Streets 2012 Challenge?

The goal of this project is that, by mapping and reviewing the very widest range possible of concepts and techniques that are intended to improve safety in city streets, we will in time come up with a higher understanding of what are the best ways for public policy to support these goals.

The Safe Streets Challenge project was put on line just one week ago today. The site has thus far been visited by readers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ghana, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, United Republic Of, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela. It’s an interesting beginning.

The Safe Streets Challenge: 2012 – 2015

After considerable and at times quite contentious discussions over the last months with colleagues around the world through various discussion fora, social media, programs, conferences, email, Skype, phone and personal visits, we have decided to make one of the principal themes of our work here at World Streets for the coming year that of Safe Streets.