Programme Overview - World Safety

Programme
Overview

What to Expect at Safety 2026

Safety 2026 is deliberately designed as far more than a traditional scientific meeting. It is a multi-layered convening experience—intellectually rigorous, professionally rewarding, and socially meaningful—created to justify one of the most valuable commitments a delegate can make: their time.

A conference that starts before the opening plenary

The Safety 2026 experience begins even before the formal programme opens, with a rich suite of pre-conference workshops. These half- and full-day sessions are practical, focused, and skills-oriented, offering delegates the opportunity to deepen expertise, engage directly with leading practitioners, and explore tools, methods, and implementation strategies that can be taken straight back into policy, practice, and research environments.

A world-class scientific programme

At the heart of Safety 2026 is a three-day scientific programme anchored in excellence, relevance, and impact. Delegates can expect high-level plenaries and state-of-the-art lectures, alongside parallel thematic tracks covering the full spectrum of injury prevention, violence reduction, mental health, and the structural, social, and commercial determinants of harm. This conference expands the scope of presentations to include the commercial and structural determinants of injury and violence; integrated mental health–injury syndemics; lived experience as a legitimate evidence base; urban design and governance for safety; digital and AI-enabled prevention with a data-justice lens; climate-related pathways to injury and violence; youth-led and intergenerational prevention science; sustainable financing of prevention; and the translation of global convenings into lasting systems change. Oral abstract sessions and dynamic poster presentations ensure that both established leaders and emerging voices shape the conversation.

Guided by the International Scientific Committee and co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, the programme balances global evidence with grounded, context-sensitive perspectives—placing Africa’s experience and leadership firmly at the centre of the global safety agenda.

The Future Leaders Programme further reinforces the conference’s long-term vision by elevating emerging researchers and next-generation leaders, particularly from low- and middle-income countries, ensuring the future of the field is diverse, inclusive, and globally representative by providing a platform for newly qualified PhD students to present their research.

Space for focus, dialogue, and collaboration

Beyond the core programme, Safety 2026 offers satellite sessions and policy roundtables that allow for deeper engagement on specific issues, innovations, and regional priorities. These sessions create space for targeted dialogue, strategic alignment, and collaborative problem-solving among researchers, policymakers, donors, and implementers.

Dedicated Leadership Lounges and thematic networking zones provide intentional environments for connection—supporting bilateral meetings, cross-sector exchange, and the kind of conversations that rarely happen in formal lecture halls.

Community Nexus – Where Evidence Meets Community Action

The Community Nexus is the civic and cultural heart of Safety 2026, curated by the National Action Group (NSG) and is designed to bring lived experience, creativity, and community action into direct conversation with science and policy. The programme features art exhibitions—exploring themes of injury, violence, trauma, recovery, and resilience, displayed throughout the Global Village and accessible online. Film screenings will highlight issues such as road safety, domestic and occupational injury, trauma care, stigma, discrimination, and human rights, available to both in-person and virtual participants. The Global Village a dedicated space where delegates and the public can mingle outside of the security perimeter will stage, live performances of music, dance, and theatre will offer powerful reflections on injury and violence prevention, trauma recovery, and social justice. A vibrant marketplace will enable community-based organisations to sell products to support and sustain their prevention programmes, while NGO booths will showcase civil society-led initiatives from South Africa and around the world. Together, the Community Nexus embodies Ubuntu in practice—connecting people, knowledge, and creativity to advance safer, more inclusive societies.

Connection, recognition, and celebration

Safety 2026 recognises that meaningful collaboration is built not only in sessions, but also in shared experiences. Delegates can look forward to a welcome ceremony, a flagship gala event, and curated social moments that foster connection across disciplines and borders. Alignment with Cape Town’s iconic First Thursday cultural initiative allows delegates to experience the city’s creative energy and civic life beyond the convention centre and a closing ceremony that includes global recognition through prestigious awards.

Innovation, networking and showcasing

A curated exhibition showcases cutting-edge research, tools, technologies, and community innovations in a knowledge-sharing environment and creates opportunities to meet the global, regional and national major funders and implementers working to create a saver society.

Why this should be the conference to prioritise in 2026

The world has entered a period of heightened risk, marked by rising violence, deepening inequality, climate shocks, and growing mental health strain. Safety 2026 directly addresses this reality, cutting across health, urban environments, social systems, and policy domains to confront the root causes of preventable harm rather than its symptoms. More than a forum for discussion, the conference is deliberately designed to deliver action—culminating in shared outputs such as a Conference Declaration and the launch of legacy initiatives that translate evidence into coordinated, long-term change. By participating, delegates are not only staying at the forefront of their field; they are helping to shape a safer global future at a moment when leadership and collective action matter most.

Safety 2026 is not just a programme to attend. It is a moment to be part of—where science, policy, community, and purpose converge to shape a safer future, together.