Programme of Child in the City international seminar complete

Published on 18-05-2017 at 10:48

Every city has its challenges to involve affected residents and businesses into their projects. Although a city is a mix of different lifestyles, a well-balanced city is created by making it child friendly: a city good for children is a city good for everyone. To become a child friendly city, one should focus on five ambitions:

to recognize all children as fellow urban citizens;
to offer equal chances to every child in the city;
to involve children as co-researchers of city and urban life;
to connect children’s life-worlds and the rest of the city;
and to understand the child friendly city as the result of an on-going, shared and open learning process between different urban stakeholders.

The Child in the City international seminar, that takes place in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) on the 19th and 20th of June, will explore the evidence behind these ambitions and consider the policy and practice initiatives that can best progress them in the planning processes that shape children’s built environments. During the seminar fifteen speakers will provide high-level presentations, workshop sessions and interactive discussions on ‘Urban Planning and Children’, the main theme of the two day programme. Amongst them are Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, the mayor of Tirana Elion Veliaj and prof. Ken Worpole of London Metropolitan University.

Sub themes
Within the main theme ‘Urban Planning and Children’, there will be two sub-themes explored within the parallel sessions and field trips:

The right for children to be involved in urban planning (parallel session and field trip one)
Urban development from a family perspective (parallel session and field trip two)

Speakers

Opening & Welcome (Ronald Schneider, Alderman city council Rotterdam)
The importance of the input from children when designing public spaces (Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands)
21st century skills in city planning (Dr. René Tristan Lydiksen, KOMPAN)
Planners make spaces, children make places (Ken Worpole, Emeritus Professor London Metropolitan University)
Participation equals protection (Ivet Pieper, Alexander Foundation)
Moderator parallel session theme 1: the right for children to be involved in urban planning (Karine van ’t Land, Zuidzorg)
Moderator parallel session theme 2: Urban development from a family perspective (Lia Karsten, Associate professor at the University of Amsterdam)
The relation between active living and the built environment (Jasper Schipperijn, Associate Professor University of Southern Denmark)
Engaging Children and Youth in Urban Planning: Towards a Rights-Based Approach (Willem van Vliet, Professor Emeritus University of Colorado Boulder)
Three challenges for the child-friendly cities movement (Tim Gill, Independent scholar and writer)
Sport and play: how being physically active will strengthen young people in society (Niels Meijer, Director of the international Johan Cruyff Foundation)
Kids: fantastic advocates for change (Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana, Albania)
And many more!

Mission
With the international seminar the organisation aims to bring together professionals such as children’s rights advocates, researchers, youth workers, urban designers and policy makers from various countries around the world, to jointly focus on the rights and wellbeing of children in cities.