The Third Meeting of the International Urban Safety Network (RISU) will be one of the main highlights of the exhibition, which will take place from September 8 to 10. The event will feature the participation of officials from Santiago, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires, as well as mayors from the Metropolitan Region.

Next Tuesday, September 8, Santiago will host an international discussion: officials from Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and the Metropolitan Region will address how cities are tackling crime, violence, and new challenges in urban security. The event will take place during the Third Meeting of the International Urban Security Network (RISU), whose main session will be held at Metropolitan Santiago as part of SeguridadExpo 2026.

The Network was established as a permanent forum for cooperation among cities and subnational governments in the hemisphere. Its first two meetings were held in Buenos Aires in 2024 and Bogotá in 2025, addressing issues such as public safety, transnational threats, local justice, technology, and the role of international actors. Now it is Santiago’s turn to organize the third meeting and assume the presidency of the Network.

On Monday, the 7th, activities will begin with a gathering of international delegations at the Plaza de la Constitución, followed by an official reception hosted by Governor Claudio Orrego and the RISU presidency at the Regional Palace. The day will conclude with a welcome cocktail reception for the participating delegations.

Tuesday, the 8th, will be the thematic highlight of the meeting. Following the official opening of SeguridadExpo 2026, the RISU opening ceremony will take place between 10:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., with the participation of representatives from Buenos Aires, Bogotá, CAF (Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean), and the Government of Santiago. Following this, the four thematic blocks that structure the day’s program will begin.

The first, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., will be dedicated to multilevel security governance and will address the role of regional and metropolitan governments as coordinators of security, especially in contexts where they lack explicit legal authority. The panel will feature Claudio Orrego, César Restrepo—Secretary of Security, Coexistence, and Justice for Bogotá—and Patricia Cuellar, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Security for Buenos Aires. In addition, mayors from the Metropolitan Region will participate alongside their community security officials.

At 11:45 a.m., the second session, “Security and Urban Development—A Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean,” will begin. It will incorporate CAF’s perspective on building safer cities through prevention, urban planning, institutional strengthening, community participation, and the use of data and technology. The discussion will feature Germán Codina, Presidential Delegate for the Metropolitan Region; Mauro Mercado, head of the Santiago Government’s Security Department; Lucía Dammert, sociologist and professor at the University of Santiago de Chile; and Ruth Landerreche, representative of the Buenos Aires Government.

At 1:00 p.m., the session “Social Prevention and Territorial Cohesion” will take place, focusing on the recovery of public spaces, community strengthening, targeted prevention, and the reduction of territorial disparities. The panel will feature representatives from the Government of Santiago and the Regional Development Corporation, as well as Juliana Lopes Bussacos, Municipal Secretary of Urban Security for São Paulo, and Pedro Pablo Herreros, regional councilor and president of the International Commission.

Finally, the fourth session, scheduled for 4:00 p.m., will address data, evidence, and technologies for prevention. The discussion will focus not only on tools such as video surveillance, lighting, and sensors, but also on the capacity of institutions to transform data into investment decisions and territorial management strategies. Panelists will include Javier Ramírez, regional councilor for Santiago; María Eduarda Lacerda, director of Intelligence and Data at CIVITAS Rio; Nicole Saéz, general manager of the Santiago Regional Development Corporation; and Ricardo Schaar, general director of C5i in Zacatecas, Mexico.

For Rodrigo Bastidas, manager of SeguridadExpo, RISU’s international dimension is one of the elements that will help expand the discussion on urban security to a regional scale.

“Having authorities and representatives from cities like Bogotá and Buenos Aires, along with Santiago’s experience, allows us to open a regional conversation on urban security and learn firsthand how different cities are addressing challenges that, in many cases, are common. For SeguridadExpo, it is particularly important to create this meeting point and connect Chile with the initiatives currently underway in other South American countries.”

The program also includes a phase of collaborative work among the delegations, aimed at drafting the final RISU Santiago 2026 document, which will compile lessons learned and commitments to guide the Network’s agenda in the period leading up to its fourth meeting.

Prior to that, the delegations will participate in mentoring sessions and a dialogue between the Technical Secretariat, the RISU Presidency, the Government of Santiago, and the cities that are members of the Network.

RISU will conclude on Wednesday, September 9, with technical visits to initiatives promoted by the Government of Santiago. The tour will include projects such as Nueva Alameda, featuring interventions in the civic district, Plaza Baquedano, and Plaza Italia, as well as the Mapocho-La Chimba area. The activity will allow the delegations to gain firsthand knowledge of models for urban intervention, the revitalization of public spaces, safety infrastructure, and interagency coordination implemented in the capital.

With this third edition, Santiago will assume a central role within the International Urban Security Network, bringing to the regional debate a governance model that seeks to link security, urban development, social prevention, and territorial management. The meeting will thus have a dual purpose: fostering exchange among cities and providing an opportunity to showcase on-site some of the policies and interventions that the Government of Santiago has developed in these areas.