DEFUS organises the 18 German members of the European Forum for Urban Security (Efus), which comprises around 250 municipalities. The members cooperate to promote order, security and peaceful coexistence in their cities and to adapt them to current challenges and future developments. In doing so, they follow the sustainable mission statement of Efus, which is geared towards co-production and diverse participation. To this end, DEFUS organises regular meetings, topic-specific workshops and training courses. The DEFUS office represents the interests of members in third-party projects, in relevant committees and acts as an intermediary at the intersection of academia and practice. The aim is to facilitate the work of members by providing targeted information on approaches and methods of urban security. The network acts as a door-opener to Europe for its members and a facilitator of access to European Union funding.
Serving as an intermediary in Germany and Europe, DEFUS participates as a network partner or associated partner in numerous projects addressing urban problems across its four thematic focal points: Peaceful Coexistence, Security and Order in Public Spaces, Security Administration, and Urban Resilience. Projects range from radicalisation prevention (Pufii) to training local authorities to protect soft targets in public spaces (Secu4All) to pandemic crisis management at the municipal level (PanReflex). By offering mediation, information and support during the proposal writing process and project implementation, DEFUS facilitates network members' access to funding from German and European calls for proposals.
