Municipal community safety and well-being policies: Intersectoral action as social innovation

Abstract

Municipal community safety and well-being policies or frameworks focus on public safety and well-being by design, but scope, focus, and operationalization vary. While municipal governments set priorities for safety and well-being, many contributing factors fall under the jurisdictions of other regional, provincial, or national actors across sectors. This complex landscape suggests a need for intersectoral networks to overcome silos and structural barriers in practice. This is consistent with population health approaches that value intersectoral action and upstream approaches, yet face implementation, scale, and continuity barriers. Recognizing this, the 2023 Centre for Healthy Communities Innovation Forum brought together over 130 multi-sectoral partners and representatives of organizations working on a municipal community safety and well-being policy or related social innovations. This paper reports on the topics, challenges, and calls for action that emerged from this event. Two calls to action emerged: (1) safety and well-being should be a central concern and investment priority for all levels of government; and (2) collaborative action across sectors and at different decision-making levels are critical for policy positive outcomes from community safety and well-being policies over the near and long terms. Intersectoral action must take a systems approach, connecting various levels to identify tangible actions and achieve transformative, population-level impacts on public safety and well-being, social outcomes, and economic vitality goals within communities. There is a pressing need to foster a funded system (or network of systems) to support the intersectoral coordination and collaboration required for ongoing cultivation and maintenance of an effective municipal community safety and well-being policy.