This toolkit synthesizes insights from content analysis, case studies, and a qualitative survey to provide recommendations for the design of digital safe spaces that prioritize empathy and specific community needs over extractive, platform-centric approaches.

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It is the outcome of an eight-week international Research Sprint on digital safe spaces. Since 2021, Edgelands has hosted dialogues on safety, surveillance, and technology in urban life. With this sprint, we shifted the focus to the digital realm and identified four foundational conditions for digital safety: relational, cultural, procedural, and infrastructural conditions.

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This toolkit serves as both a practical guide and a call to reimagine digital spaces as community-governed environments where safety is co-created by those who inhabit them, rather than imposed by corporate architectures optimized for engagement over wellbeing.

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Researchers involved:

Pulkit Mogra

Tatiana Lysova

Lilian Olivia Otero

Catherine Keegan

Nina Martin

Mmabatho Oke

Jessica McClearn

Giovanna da Custódia

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Mentors and Edgelands team:

Nina Baranowska

Daniel Ogondo

Virgginia Laborão

Vanessa Gathecha

Laura García Vargas

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Design team:

Flavia Lozano

Larissa Oliveira

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