IMPORTANT – Safety 2026 now takes place from 1–4 September 2026. Opening Ceremony, Opening Plenary & Welcome Reception Hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies commence on Tuesday 1 September.
Monday, 31 August 2026
| Time | Pre-Conference Events | |||||
| 10:00 – 16:00 | Living Heritage Discovery Tours & Institutional Discovery Tours | |||||
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
| Time | Pre-Conference Events | |||||
| 09:00 – 12:30 | Ubuntu in Action: Advancing Safe Journeys to School Across Road Traffic, Open Water, and Violence – Safe Kids Worldwide and ChildSafe | |||||
| 09:00 – 16:00 | Capacity Strengthening for ICD-11 Coding, and Analysis of Injury Data Using the WHO-Family of International Classifications – South African Medical Research Council | |||||
| 09:00 – 17:00 | Stronger Decisions, Safer Outcomes: The Policy Power of Data – CDC Foundation | |||||
| 09:00 – 17:00 | From Prevention to Response: Building Safer Maritime Systems – Lloyd’s Register Foundation | |||||
| 09:00 – 17:00 | Drowning Prevention Research, Policy and Practice Workshop – Johns Hopkins University | |||||
| 09:00 – 17:00 | Evidence-based Approaches to Preventing Violence Against Children: An INSPIRE Masterclass – INSPIRE | |||||
| 09:00 – 17:00 | Increasing the Use of Case-Control Studies in Injury Prevention in LMICs – South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) / University of Chicago | |||||
| 10:00 – 16:00 | Living Heritage Discovery Tours & Institutional Discovery Tours | |||||
| 13:00 – 17:30 | Accelerating Progress Toward Road Safety: From Research Priorities to Implementation Pathways for Sustainable and Safe Mobility – Johns Hopkins University | |||||
Day 1 – Tuesday, 1 September 2026
| Time | Session | |||||
| 08:00 – 16:00 | Registration | |||||
| 17:30 – 18:30 | Opening Ceremony (Auditorium) | |||||
| 18:30 – 20:00 | Bloomberg Welcome Reception (Exhibition) | |||||
Day 2 – Wednesday, 2 September 2026
| Time | Auditorium | Room 1 | Room 2 | Room 3 | Room 4 | Room 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07:00 – 09:00 | Registration & Welcome Coffee | |||||
| 07:15 – 08:45 | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | |
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Plenary Session 1 The Structural Determinants of Safety (with Opening Keynote & Opening Flagship Panel) | |||||
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Networking break | |||||
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Flagship Panel 2 Mapping the Global Burden: Epidemiology and Prevention Across the Life Course | |||||
| 11:00 – 13:00 | Track 1 Dangerous Journeys: Bus, Safety, Gig Riders & Road to Automation | Track 2 Violence Prevention, Safety Regulation and Response | Track 3 Global approaches to Violence Prevention: Parenting, policy and community action | Track 4 The Future of Risk Detection | Track 5 The Economics of Safety: Measuring the Costs and Returns of Injury and Violence Prevention | |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Track 1 Core Panel Domestic Resource Mobilization for Drowning Prevention | |||||
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Poster Tours & Lunch | |||||
| 14:00 – 14:45 | Flagship Panel 3 From Evidence to Action: Multisector Collaboration for Safer Societies | State of the Art Session Violence Against Women (VAW) | State of the Art Session Burns | State of the Art Session Falls | State of the Art Session Mental Health, Trauma and Wellbeing | State of the Art Session Digital and Emerging Risks |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | PhD presentations | PhD presentations | ||||
| 15:15 – 16:30 | Track 1 Preventing the Preventable: Epidemiology and Evidence for Burns, Falls, and Injury Reduction | Track 2 Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Policy | Track 3 Strengthening Continuity of Injury Care | Track 4 Risk Detection and Scalable Interventions | Track 5 The Human Impact of Violence and Injury | |
| 15:30 – 16:15 | Flagship Panel 4 From Systems Thinking to Systems Delivery: Why Implementation Fails – and How to Fix it. | |||||
| 16:45 – 16:55 | Networking break | |||||
| 17:00 – 18:30 | Track 1 Helmets, Hazards, & High Speeds – Tracking Motorcycle Risk Globally | Track 2 Child Road Safety | Track 3 Integrating Community Voices through Co-design | Tracks 1 Counting the Cost: Mortality, Disability and Healthcare Burden of Road Traffic Injuries | Track 2 Multisectoral Partnerships and Advocacy Models | |
| 18:45 – 19:45 | Satellite Sessions | |||||
Day 3 – Thursday, 3 September 2026
| Time | Auditorium | Room 1 | Room 2 | Room 3 | Room 4 | Room 5 |
| 07:00 – 09:00 | Registration & Welcome Coffee | |||||
| 07:15 – 08:45 | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Plenary Session 2 Understanding the Systems That Sustain Violence and Injury | |||||
| 09:30 – 10:30 | Networking break | |||||
| 10:30 – 11:30 | Flagship Panel 5 Technology, Data and the Future of Safety: Opportunities and Risks | |||||
| 10:30 – 12:30 | Track 1 From Household to Conflict Zone: The Spectrum of Interpersonal and Community Violence |
Track 2 Safe Systems, Data and Surveillance |
Track 3 Innovation for Safer Roads |
Blended Track Petcha Kucha | Cross Track Session | |
| 11:45 – 12:45 | Track 2 Core Panel Building Powerful Theory-Driven Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Communication Strategies |
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| 12:30 – 13:45 | Poster Tours & Lunch | |||||
| 12:45 – 13:30 | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | |
| 14:00 – 14:45 |
State of the Art Session Road Safety |
State of the Art Session Violence Against Children (VAC) |
State of the Art Session Drowning |
State of the Art Session Youth Violence |
State of the Art Session Climate, Environment and Disaster Resilience |
|
| 14:00 – 15:00 | Track 3 Core Panel Understanding and Improving Childhood Burn First Aid and Referral in Informal Settlements in Uganda | |||||
| 14:45 – 15:00 | PhD presentations | PhD presentations | PhD presentations | |||
| 15:15 – 16:30 | Track 1 Safeguarding Childhood: Epidemiology and Prevention of Violence and Injury Among Young People | Track 2 Road and Community Safety |
Track 3 Lessons in Drowning Prevention and Implementation |
Late breaker abstracts | ||
| 15:15 – 16:45 |
Panel 1 Global Firearm Violence: The Epidemiology, regional variation, and downstream adverse effects of with a focus on Firearms and the Bullets they carry-A panel discussion of strategies for addressing, reducing and preventing harm |
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| 15:30 – 16:30 | Track 4 Core Panel Workplace safety, emerging challenges and technology-assisted innovations | |||||
| 16:30 – 16:45 | Networking break | |||||
| 17:00 – 18:00 | Panel 2 Transitioning from Car-Centric Sprawl to Human-Centred Habitats: A Safe Systems Approach to Re-Engineering Sanath Road, India | |||||
| 17:00 – 18:30 | Track 1 Safe Streets for All Data, Evidence and Action for Young and Pedestrian Road Users |
Track 2 Roads, Rivers and Regulations |
Track 3 Occupational Injury Prevention in a Changing World | Track 4 Surveillance Systems and Data Innovations |
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| 19:00 – 20:00 | First Thursday & Gala Dinner | |||||
Day 4 – Friday, 4 September 2026
| Time | Auditorium | Room 1 | Room 2 | Room 3 | Room 4 | Room 5 |
| 07:00 – 08:45 | Registration & Welcome Coffee | |||||
| 07:15 – 08:45 | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | Satellite session | |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Plenary Session 3 Creating Safety Through Systems Design | |||||
| 09:30 – 10:30 | Networking break | |||||
| 10:30 – 11:30 | Flagship Panel 6 Calculating the True Economic Burden of Interpersonal Violence in Different Settings | Track 5 Core Panel Safer Mobility and Employment: A Gender Perspective in LMIC | ||||
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Track 3 Towards Safer School Journeys | Track 5 Equity in Prevention Addressing Structural Drivers of Injury and Violence | ||||
| 10:30 – 12:30 | Track 1 Still Waters, Hidden Risks: Epidemiology and Prevention of Drowning | Track 1 Delibrate Harm: Suicide, Violence, & Firearm Harm Across Populations | ||||
| 11:30 – 12:15 | Late breaker abstracts | |||||
| 12:30 – 13:45 | Poster Tours & Lunch | |||||
| 12:45 – 13:30 | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions | Satellite Sessions |
| 14:00 – 14:45 | Plenary 4 From Evidence to Action: Building Collective Accountability for a Safer Future | |||||
| 15:00 – 16:00 | Closing Flagship Panel 7 & Closing Keynote | |||||
| 16:30 – 17:00 | Closing Awards Ceremony | |||||
Global Village (Throughout the Conference)
The Global Village is a vibrant, interactive space at Safety 2026 open to the public and delegates. Located in the lobby of the Cape Town International Conference Centre, but before delegates go through security screening, this space is where conference delegates, community members, civil society organisations, youth groups, researchers, innovators, and local stakeholders come together to connect, learn, and share experiences.
Designed to break down barriers between experts and communities, it provides a platform for practical solutions, lived experiences, cultural perspectives, and grassroots initiatives that contribute to safer and more resilient societies.
Organisations that host a Networking Zone will be the main focal point to coordinate activities in the Global Village common areas and will work closely with the Global Village Coordinator around scheduling time slots for use of the Ubuntu Stage and/or Community Dialogue space.
Planned activities include
For more information on how you can exhibit or organise an activity in the Village, reach out to the conference secretary at info@worldsafety.co.za
CONTACTS
GENERAL QUERIES
Tel: +27 87 821 1109 / 012 110 4080
info@worldsafety.co.za