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against ten design development projects in theUK, Netherlands, Austria, Greece and Poland.“This framework is transferable betweendifferent contexts and design disciplines, andcovers the entire product lifecycle, includingmaintenance, monitoring and businesslearning when the development is in use.It enables researchers and crime preventionexperts to conduct rigorous evaluations ofdesign solutions within products, services andenvironment,” explains Wootton.More recently the Centre has also beencontributing to the development of a commonEuropean policy platform on urban security,leading to a policy position on the future ofcrime prevention, which was communicatedvia a manifesto arising from the EuropeanForum for Urban Security (EFUS) conferencein Paris – an event that was attended bydelegates from more than 180 cities in 40countries. EFUS is the oldest non-governmentalorganisation of local authorities working in thefield of urban security and acts as a focus forresearch, dialogue and co-operation betweenits 300 local authority members. It has inspirednumerous national forums throughoutEurope, Africa and Latin America, and theParis conference, held in December 2012, wasentitled Security, Democracy and Cities:The Future of Prevention.Caroline Davey was invited to speak at the‘Planning shared public space’ session andpresented scientific evidence on the linksbetween design and security, highlightingreductions in crime across Europe attributed toeffective design intervention. “I recommendedthat crime prevention be considered within theearly stages of the design process to increasethe cost-effectiveness of solutions and avoidthe retrofitting of unsightly security measures,”The Solution Centre evaluated Greater Manchester Police’sArchitectural Liaison Service, which resulted in there-branding of the service as Design for Security, and theembedding of crime prevention within urban design andplanning in Manchester.she explains. “I described approaches fromacross Europe that enable crime and relatedsocial issues to be integrated within urbanplanning, design and development, anddrew on findings from the Centre’s recentlycompleted EU Planning Urban Security (PLuS)project, which was led by the [the GermanFederal police.On the PLuS sideOver the past decade, the Solution Centrehas developed a network of partnersacross Europe that includes DSP-groep, theEuropean Designing Out Crime Organisation(Netherlands) and the University of AppliedSciences, Cologne.The PLuS project provided an opportunity tocontinue working with existing partners inAustria and Germany, as well as to establishnew police crime prevention contacts inPoland. Through these European partners,the Solution Centre has been able to examinethe effect of contextual factors on crimeprevention measures, and a strong presencein Germany has been developed throughparticipation in conferences and seminars ondesign and crime prevention.The PLuS project conducted empirical researchinto the urban context in partner countries,with a quantitative survey of the residents ineach PLuS study area carried out, followed byqualitative interviews with residents’ groupsand other stakeholders. The results revealedsignificant differences between residents ineach of the three European countries in termsof demographic details, lifestyles and attitudes.In 2007, the Solution Centre evaluated GreaterManchester Police’s Architectural LiaisonService, which resulted in the re-brandingof the service as Design for Security, and theembedding of crime prevention within urbandesign and planning in Manchester.This project resulted in the service beingawarded the 2010 Secured By DesignInnovation Award, as well as journalpublications, guidance materials and processmodels that have been disseminated acrossEurope.“Through the PLuS project, we have beenable to track the ongoing development ofthe Design for Security service and identifyaspects of their working process – what hasbecome called the ‘Manchester Model’ – thatmay act as examples of good practice forother European countries. In parallel, researchconducted by PLuS partners has revealedalternative approaches and examples of goodpractice from which organisations in the UKmight learn. This has also enabled us to reflecton the underpinning ideas, assumptions andparadigms that inform the UK approach tocrime prevention,” Andrew Wootton said.In a previous European project, the SolutionCentre developed a method to promote theexchange of best practice across Europe,and the PLuS project has allowed Salfordresearchers to progress this work and developthe ‘Planning Urban Security CapabilityMaturity Model’. This model is tailored to theEuropean approach to crime prevention, and isnow helping to guide efforts to improve crimeprevention delivery in Germany. Developmentof the model has benefited greatly from thefeedback of European partners who are alsopractitioners in the field and, together, thePLuS project team has been able to develop amodel that functions across different Europeancontexts and languages.Impact into the futureDue to the impact that the Solution Centre hashad so far, both at home and abroad, it is littlesurprise that their innovative work is leading tonew opportunities all the time. Several excitingnew initiatives are either underway or planned,which means that the future promises to beboth busy and varied.May 2013 | 7