Safe Together is a new interactive guide and creative report based on findings from the Rural Minnesota Safety Project—a three–year pilot initiative (2022–2025) aimed at translating Nonviolent Peaceforce’s global approach to unarmed civilian protection into rural Minnesota contexts. In collaboration with two regional partners—The Sowing Room and Northspan—the project engaged community members in Brainerd, Cloquet, and Cook County to explore and define what safety means locally, and how communities can cultivate it together.
Created by the project's evaluative storytellers, Ash Hanson (Department of Public Transformation) and Anna Claussen (Voices for Rural Resilience), this choose-your-own-adventure-style report blends storytelling, community wisdom, and hands-on tools to spark your own local community safety journey. Whether you're a neighbor, practitioner, policymaker, or partner—you’re invited to dive in, adapt, and imagine what safety could look like where you live.
This report was created by DoPT and VfRR, in collaboration with Nonviolent Peaceforce, The Sowing Room, and Northspan, and with support from the Bush Foundation.
To access the report, please enter your name and email address below. DoPT will never share your email address with any outside organization.