The Security, Democracy & Cities international conference

Join us on 20-22 March 2024 for the 8th edition of Efus’ international Security, Democracy & Cities conference!

The 8th edition of the conference will be held in Brussels, under the auspices of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and in partnership with the Brussels-Capital Region, represented by safe.brussels. Europe’s cities and regions will come together at Efus’ conference to address the major social, political and democratic challenge of security in cities, ahead of the upcoming European elections. 

Aimed at all urban security stakeholders, the conference will bring together local, regional, national and European elected officials, civil servants, magistrates, security professionals, social workers, researchers, representatives of the private sector and civil society, experts and representatives of European institutions and international organisations.

Europe’s cities and regions come together to address the democratic challenge of security in cities ahead of the upcoming European elections

>>> Organised every three years, the conference gathers 800+ participants from 150 cities and regions in and outside of Europe

>>> 3 days to discuss local responses to security challenges facing local authorities that would complement national and European responses

>>> A unique opportunity for dialogue between cities and the EU, during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and just a few months ahead of the upcoming European elections

A look back on the 2021 edition…

The 2021 edition of the Security, Democracy & Cities conference was held in the City of Nice, which is also Vice-President of Efus. The previous conferences were held in Barcelona-Catalonia (2017), Aubervilliers-Saint Denis (2012), Saragossa (2006), Naples (2000), Paris (1991) and Montreal (1989).

Key figures

700 participants
140 cities and regions represented
27 countries
4 continents (Europe, America, Africa, Asia)

100 speakers – elected officials, academics, representatives of institutions, civil society, private sector

18 thematic workshops, 12 focus sessions, 10 field visits, 3 plenary sessions

The Security, Democracy and Cities Declaration

The Security, Democracy and Cities Declaration was signed during the closing session by Efus President and Mayor of Liège (Belgium), Willy Demeyer, and Efus Vice-President and Mayor of the host City of Nice, Christian Estrosi. In the name of Efus members, it calls for heightened and more agile cooperation as well as adequate financial support between the local, national and European levels of governance. It also calls for the establishment of a Convention of Mayors for Security that would enable European local authorities to jointly respond to the many challenges they are facing.

Read the declaration

The declaration adopted at the closing of the 2021 conference is based on the The Manifesto: Security, Democracy and Cities: Co-producing Urban Security Policies.

It was adopted during the closing session of the 2017 conference.

More about the Manifesto

Video messages and interviews with representatives from our European ecosystem

Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice:

Klára Dobrev, Vice-President of the European Parliament:

Jan Olbrycht, Member of the European Parliament:

István Ujhelyi, Member of the European Parliament:

Renáta Gallai, Responsible for Tourism and Culture, City of Budapest:

György Tatár, Chair, Budapest Centre for the Prevention of Mass Atrocities:

Previous editions of the conference

2017 – Barcelona-Catalonia

2012 – Aubervilliers-Saint-Denis


>>> More news about the conference