Our Short Specialization Degree in Urban Security and Violence Management aims at providing the skills necessary for dealing with safety and violence in an urban setting by following a network approach based on the cooperation among citizens, institutions, associations, companies, and law enforcement.
The course refers to the contents of the Decree-Law No. 14 of February 20th, 2017, coordinated with the Conversion Law No. 48 of April 18th, 2017 concerning Urgent provisions for safety in cities, and stating that urban security here means “that branch of public safety aimed at preventing illegal activities concentrated in the municipal area, and dealing with safety in cities, orderly coexistence, environment, and quality of local life”.
Moreover, our Short Specialization Degree follows an idea of urban development in line with the United Nations SDG 11 of the 2030 Agenda, which invites countries to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.
The program of our Short Specialization Degree in Urban Security and Violence Management offers theoretical and practical lessons organized according to the following topics:
- Prevention, analysis, and management of events that put at risk citizens’ urban living
- Promotion of urban coexistence and fight against discrimination in communities
- Promotion of legality
- Promotion of inclusivity
- Protection of the land and environmental safety
- Urban healthcare, community welfare and quality of life
- Fight against gender-based violence in public spaces
- Prevention, analysis, and management of youth violence in cities
- Offenders, victims, and restorative justice
- Health security in cities
- Emergencies and collective warnings
Students will therefore acquire the following skills:
- Understanding urban psychology and social sciences
- Projecting, realizing, and assessing urban security interventions
- Managing the relations between institutions and citizens
- Leading working groups amid health emergencies
- Recognizing the social need for security throughout the territory
Our Short Specialization Degree in Urban Security and Violence Management is addressed to graduates in psychological, social, political, legal, and pedagogical sciences, private and public administrators (e.g., mayors, city officials such as architects, engineers, social workers, tax advisors, registry clerks, accountants), heads of the local urban security offices, local police personnel, law enforcement workers, and private investigators who seek to acquire and improve specific skills useful to work in the field of urban security and violence management.
This course aims at training professionals (directors and managers, public workers, and freelance consultants) who can cooperate with both public and private organizations as:
- Designated Officer for Urban Security (in Italian: DDSU), as provided for by the Decree-Law No. 14 of February 20th, 2017, coordinated with the Conversion Law No. 48 of April 18th, 2017
- Experts in urban crisis and emergency management
- Experts in conflict reduction strategies
- Experts in violence management in institutions, organizations, and communities
- Experts in protection and support of a culture of legality and inclusion
- Experts in the collaboration with public and private security services, hospitality, and protection
- Experts in the management of urban volunteer networks, welfare, and healthcare
- Experts in counseling and support for victims of violence
Our Short Specialization Degree in Urban Security and Violence Management allows students to experience an interdisciplinary approach diving into three scientific areas: Psychological Science, Legal Science, and Social/Political Science. Students will learn how to put into practice their theoretical knowledge, thanks to the teachings of our best professors and some of the most active and renowned professionals in the field. The lectures are organized with an innovative approach and according to an educational perspective based on concrete case studies and cases presented by the students themselves. Students will also learn how to work autonomously through the development of a project work, which will give them the chance to offer immediate solutions to current and rising issues.
The program is divided into 16 topics:
- Urban psychology and violence
- Prejudice, conflicts, and urban peace
- Fundamentals of leadership and decision-making processes within organizations and politics
- Gender and violence (victim and perpetrator, support networks)
- Risks and communication strategies
- Anthropology in diverse urban contexts: our fears in looking at the other
- Governance and coexistence in multiethnic districts (urban segregation and structural violence)
- Safety, mental health, social unrest
- Urban contexts and civil protection
- Environmental safety (climate change, disasters, protection of cities and citizens)
- Justice, criminology, victimology
- Criminal law and culture of legality (acquisitive crime and juvenile crimes)
- Law, social change, and organized crime (fight against mafia groups, ecomafia)
- Health security (Management of emergencies and conflicts)
- Terrorism, security, and defense
- Crisis management
At the end of the course, students will receive an Open Badge, a digital certificate stating their disciplinary knowledge, personal skills, and any acquired technical skills. Each Open Badge consists of a graphical element (a picture), and some specifications (metadata) which point to an acquired skill or competence, or an achieved goal, the method used to test it, who issued it, and the student’s identity. An Open Badge is guaranteed by the provider and it’s internationally recognized. The Badges are uploaded on a dedicated platform (https://bestr.it/organization/show/65), which uses an open-source format, and can be read by all applications that read Open Badge. Find out how to redeem your Open Badge and how to integrate it in your CV, or your professional social media account, here: https://www.unipd.it/open-badge
- Municipality of Padua
- ASSIV – Italian Association for Surveillance and Security Services
- AIPSA – Italian Association Business Security Professionals
- CIRSIM – Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca per gli Studi Interculturali e sulle Migrazioni (University of Padua)
- LIBERA – Associations, Names and Numbers against Mafia
- Laboratorio ANS di Ricerca multidisciplinare sulla qualità sociale, benessere, sviluppo umano
- Casa della Memoria (House of Memory) – Brescia
- Fondazione Banca Popolare Etica – Padua
- FIABA – Association for diversity, inclusion, and accessibility for a world without barriers
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Information
FAQ
Teaching includes 210 hours spread over 18 weekends. Lessons will take place between November 2022 and September 2023, on Friday afternoons and on Saturdays. There are 90 additional hours to complete autonomously on Moodle. Attendance is mandatory for at least 70% of the total amount of hours and the course ends with a final project work.
Distance learning takes place on the Moodle platform of the University of Padua and includes several activities to be completed online in an asynchronous manner (e.g., debates among students, reading of additional material, discussions with teachers, exchange of tips concerning the project works).
No, it does not.
Yes, students who are absent for any reason can visit the Moodle platform dedicated to the course and watch the recorded video of any lesson they missed. There, they will also find the study material used by the teacher during the lesson (slideshows, articles, etc.).
A project work consists of the preparation of an individual project on a topic chosen by the student in accordance with a teacher or a tutor. The report should include around 50 pages.
Lessons will be carried out at the School of Psychology in Via Venezia 12, Padua. From the train station, the school is easily accessible by public transportation (5 minutes) or on foot (15 minutes). Students will receive information about any outdoor lessons once the course has started.