SAFE – Safety Training on Public Events Erasmus Project

Project Title

SAFE – Safety Training on Public Events

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Access for disadvantaged; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

SAFE is a European project, coordinated by PRODISS, aiming to develop the skills of adults in charge of the security of events and music venues. The project is part of a very serious context of increasing attacks on venues and events and has developed and adapted to the new challenges posed by the health crisis from March 2020. The threats have therefore become even more widespread and protective, and the responses have been limited to the current situation (increase in the number of law enforcement officers, emergency funds to compensate for a drop in ticket sales, communication campaigns to reassure the public or the total closure of venues during a pandemic). The health crisis has only accentuated this observation
The partners (training and adult education institutes, consultancy organisations, trade unions, security companies, technological incubators, international networks) worked for 30 months on developing structural responses to compensate for the under-qualification of these staff in the face of these new threats. SAFE project therefore worked on developing the skills of security managers, but also of all music event personnel, as this issue has become even more central, on the following themes
– Crowd management
– Implementation of concerted security strategies (co-construction of specifications)
– Existing or future technological innovations based on the needs of the field regarding the safety of audiences and artists
– Economic impact of security costs on the music industry in Europe
– Analysis of existing good practices
– Security issues in the context of a health crisis
SAFE project implemented several types of activities for the development of adult competences and skills:
– 4 learning activities on the above-mentioned themes, bringing together music and security professionals in Europe as well as technology start-ups (2 trainings/Hackathons)
– 2 certificates for the project’s target audiences: a strategic programme (for event and venue managers) and an operational programme (for security companies)
– 1 digital toolbox of resources on technological and economic innovations related to security issues in the music and events sectors
– 1 study on safety issues in the context of a health crisis
– 5 events for the dissemination of the project’s intellectual productions
These activities have the following participants
– European experts in adult education who are recognised for their experience in implementing security strategies for international events (Olympics, Euro football, major European festivals)
– Security managers in the music sector (550 over the whole project)
– Security managers in security companies (100 in the whole project)
– Managers of technology start-ups in the music sector (80 in total)
– Managers of music networks and unions (25 in total) liaising with public authorities in particular
The relevance of the SAFE project is based on a methodology of formal and non-formal education that promotes
– The development of content based on the needs of the final beneficiaries of the project (security guards, artists, audiences)
– Crossing expertise with other key sectors of the event industry such as sport
– The contribution of new technologies to the process of crowd management and safety strategies (cyber security, search techniques, people flow monitoring, materials detection, health tests, people’s identities, data management etc.)
– The creation of an educational environment based on dialogue, diversity of views and cross-fertilisation of expertise (from security guard to arena manager)
– The involvement of public authorities in certain key moments of the project
The results and impacts of SAFE project have been multiplied at all levels, from local to international, and have been extended to issues related to the health crisis from March 2020 onwards (moving from the management of terrorist risks to a more global and integrated approach to the risks weighing on the events sector)
SAFE project has succeeded in narrowing the gap between the responsibilities and skills involved in this often underestimated yet overexposed profession. This awareness on the part of public authorities and music sector managers has been accelerated by the health crisis
These impacts have been disseminated over wide networks and have had a media and public impact due to the dissemination potential of the project partners
In particular, we targeted: music companies and security companies to train their staff, national and European public authorities to invest massively in training adults in event safety issues
The near-total shutdown of the events sector during the last year of the project led professionals to train massively in these safety issues and to realise that the only way to respond to successive crises was through continuous training of the players. This also helped to show that the issue of security was increasingly intrinsically linked to the event industry in all its diversity

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 244485,9 Eur

Project Coordinator

PRODISS & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Mind Over Matter Consultancy Limited
• iSSUE – Institut Suisse de Sécurité Urbaine et Événementielle
• European Areans Association
• Bundesverband der Konzert- und Veranstaltungswirtschaft (BDKV) e.V.
• The Security Company Utrecht Holland Holding B.V.
• le LABA
• International Live Music Conference Limited