Victorian councils ask women to map unsafe public spaces, what’s your story?
In a recent podcast on RN Breakfast, Fran Kelly hosted Dr Nicole Kalms and Nia McMartin as they launched their new public safety project, ‘Your Ground’; Which empowers gender diverse and women to mark areas where they feel safe and unsafe, providing councils with vital information for community safety.
The pair explained the project had developed from numerous factors, including a recent OECD index that found…
“50% of Australian Women don’t feel safe walking alone at night”.
Lighting in public spaces was discussed, where ‘more nuanced’ lighting solutions were the key to making women feel safe, rather than the ‘brighter is better’ approach.
Leadsun whole-heartedly supports the ‘Your Ground’ project to identify open space areas that are considered ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe’ – particularly at night; research has identified that smarter designed public lighting systems can lead to improving the feeling of safety compared to over-lit or unlit areas. In early 2020, Leadsun partnered with the City of Cooma (NSW) to design and deliver a SMART solar-powered public lighting system that was cost-effective in improving safety along the Cooma Creek trail in the evening. To find out more, visit us here
