Safety, not security U of W professor partners with urban communities for safety research

Mon. Feb. 9, 2026

Since 2021, University of Winnipeg professor Dr. Julie Chamberlain has worked with urban communities in Winnipeg to research inclusive safety initiatives. Chamberlain partnered with the South Valour Residents Association (SVRA) and the community safety hosts initiative (CSHI) to work on community-led projects.

Chamberlain’s work in South Valour started when Stacy Cardigan Smith, the SVRA founding board chair, reached out to Chamberlain about her community’s safety concerns. Smith wanted to know how South Valour residents could feel safer, but in a way that was more inclusive than a typical neighbourhood watch.

“When we do safety, we need to do work that includes safety for everyone,” Smith says. “So we thought, ‘This is a really important space and area to be in, and it aligns with our board’s values, but how do you actually practice inclusive safety?’”

Chamberlain and Smith say they found feelings of community safety could be linked to community events, well-maintained green spaces and de-escalation during conflict.

“It’s focusing on building social capital, which is strengthening connection and reciprocity and trust between and within communities,” Smith says.

The SVRA also worked on community asset-mapping, which involves residents mapping out what brings value to a neighbourhood and what can be improved.

“People are interested in the work that’s being done, and they’re coming out and getting involved,” Smith says.

Chamberlain, along with her research assistants and the SVRA, created an online community safety toolbox to share their findings.

“The group created all kinds of resources and processes through that period of action research,” Chamberlain says. “The community safety toolbox is a way for us to share that stuff with other neighbourhoods.”

The digital toolbox includes information on how to start community conversations around safety and expand them into initiatives that build community rather than securing it.

Chamberlain is also working with the University of Manitoba’s Dr. Christine Mayor to research the CSHI, which is run by Indigenous-led non-profit Zoongizi Ode and Persons Community Solutions. This research looks at safety and harm reduction in downtown public spaces through the lens of the Cree principle Wâhkôhtowin.

“Wâhkôhtowin broadly means we live in a universe that’s defined by relatedness. We’re responsible to each other, we’re responsible to respect and be accountable to each other as people,” Chamberlain says.

Community safety hosts are an Indigenous-led alternate version of security. They receive training in de-escalation and harm reduction.

“Community safety hosts are meant to address some of the barriers that people face to accessing services to which they’re entitled,” Chamberlain says.

Chamberlain and Mayor used qualitative data collected from community safety hosts, alongside the guiding principle of Wâhkôhtowin, to identify relational approaches to safety.

In their paper, How Community Safety Hosts Practice Wâhkôhtowin, they identify seven safety principles of Wâhkôhtowin: sharing, taking care of others, showing support without judgment, connecting people, holding people accountable, helping others find their role and giving the gift of time and attention.

“The research really shows us that a narrow sort of security focus, it tends to make us more scared, it tends to penalize some people,” Chamberlain says.

“There’s a real opportunity there that exists probably in all places to ... follow Indigenous teachings,” she says. “Follow Indigenous law that applies to the place that we’re in and to take a relational and caring approach.”

Find the community safety toolbox at bit.ly/4k93HRI and “How Community Safety Hosts Practice Wâhkôhtowin” at bit.ly/4t4JjVR.

Full article avaiable at: https://uniter.ca/view/safety-not-security