Building Resilient Cities Together: MHE Hosts Co-creation Training for SONAR-Cities

On 1 October, Mental Health Europe (MHE) welcomed participants from across Europe to Brussels for the co-creation training of the SONAR-Cities project. The initiative aims to adapt and tailor inclusive tools to strengthen crisis preparedness and resilience in six European cities.

The training brought together two facilitators from each pilot city and was led by Liuska Sanna, MHE’s Head of Operations, with valuable insights from partners experienced in co-creation through the ADVANCE project.

Why co-creation matters

At the heart of SONAR-Cities is a simple but powerful principle: communities are stronger when everyone has a voice. Co-creation means placing vulnerabilities and inclusiveness at the centre of preparedness planning. It brings together municipalities, first responders, NGOs, academics, and people with lived experience to design tools that truly meet the needs of diverse communities.

Mental health in crisis preparedness

For MHE and its members, this milestone illustrates how mental health and psychosocial support are becoming integral to European crisis planning. By applying participatory methods, SONAR-Cities seeks to strengthen community resilience, foster cross-sector collaboration, and ensure that vulnerable groups are not only considered, but actively included.

What’s next

The Brussels training marks the launchpad for Co-creation Stakeholder Boards in each pilot city. These boards will now begin shaping priorities and designing tools to be tested locally and eventually scaled across Europe.

With SONAR-Cities, MHE is helping to ensure that Europe’s approach to crisis preparedness is not only robust and practical, but also inclusive, resilient, and rooted in solidarity.