A National Shift Towards Improving our Built Environment

There has been a lot of buzz over the last few years about how we can improve community safety and well-being without always being so dependent on our police services, and other levels of government. All too often the answers are staring us right in the face. One of the solutions is improving our surroundings, in other words our built environment and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a game-changer.

CPTED Canada, a new national organization plans to lead the charge. In fact, the organization has very strong roots and was born from CPTED Ontario. The rebranding took more than a year and with the full support of its members a new founding board of directors was established, and a new website. It’s a big leap and one that’s sure to have an impact across our country.

Many cities across Canada have adopted the methodology and are actively using this best practice to address a multitude of challenging issues in their municipalities. Various aspects of crime and social disorder can be addressed by using the practice. Although there is never a silver bullet or one solution fits all approach, CPTED packs a wallop when properly used by trained professionals.

If anything good came out of the world-wide pandemic we’ve all faced it might have been to see what was happening in cities around the world, including right in our own backyards. It has had a dramatic impact on our economies and the heart of every city – its downtown. We all saw the result of lock-downs that led to bare streets void of people, and businesses that once thrived closed or worse yet closed permanently.

It would seem as we approach 2023 the pandemic is not through with us yet. However, lessons have been learned and if we ever doubted how important our built environments are to our safety and well-being, we’re no longer blinded by it. The pathway forward can help us reduce crime, and address other challenges such as homelessness, mental health and even addictions. Remember, it’s all about improving our built environment! When we factor in all the various principles of CPTED we can have an impact, particularly as they relate to the 2nd Generation concepts of Culture, Cohesion, Connection and Capacity – also known as the 4C’s.

Join the movement! It will all begin with a Virtual Speaker Series hosted by CPTED Canada throughout this month. It all starts on Nov 7th at 11am PST. For more details visit their Meet the Speakers page or check out their Event Poster.

Photo Credit

Photo is from Pixabay

Guest Author Bio
Steve Woolrich

Steve Woolrich is an award-winning Crime Prevention and Built Environment Practitioner. He is passionate about creating safe and healthy communities and has always considered himself a ‘boots on the ground’ consultant.

Steve’s background is extremely diverse and after graduating from Justice Administration at Mount Royal University and majoring in Police Science he has worked closely with many communities and police services throughout Canada. He is a certified Crime Prevention through Environmental Design specialist, and was a co-founder and the Vice President of CPTED Canada. Steve utilized this methodology and other best practices in many roles throughout his career, including corporate security and asset protection.

Steve is proud to have worked closely with the Alberta Government and was part of their provincial Gang Reduction Network, working as the Central Alberta lead. It was during this time he became a trained Circle Facilitator and continues to use this process to engage with communities, and with youth.

Steve founded the largest Community Safety and Well-Being collaborative in Canada – known as the Safer Communities Collaborative (formerly Rethink Urban). He co-created a Full SPECTRUM approach to Community Safety and Well-Being, fusing best practices such as CPTED, Placemaking and BC’s Healthy Built Environment Toolkit to address a wide range of built environment challenges in both rural and urban communities.

Steve was the recipient of the 2023 Public Health Association of BC’s Award of Merit for his work in communities throughout BC. He is semi-retired and lives off-grid on Galiano Island in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. He enjoys hiking, archery, and writing, and is currently compiling a book highlighting four decades of work in various roles and his passion for the built environment.