Spaces for fun: Reflections on the International Child Standards Seminar

What would our cities look like if we designed them through a child’s perspective?

This was the question put to me and over 30 other participants from throughout Europe at the International Child Standards Seminar in Leuven 6 to 8 October. As part of the larger goal of partners Mobiel21, Bataljong, and Lab of Thought, among a larger coalition of dozens of organisations, the 3-day working seminar aimed to make the Child Standard – an appeal, first launched by the Gezinsbond in Flanders, BE, in 2019, to specifically consider the impact of every mobility policy decision on children and young people – the norm across Europe. As Sanne Vanderstraeten, Mobility Advisor at Mobiel21, states, “Before we do anything we should ask ourselves, ‘is this good for children?’”

Over the course of the three days we heard from several speakers sharing their work and providing a framework from which we, as a group, could develop prototypes that could be something each of us could take back with us to our day jobs to start realising that Child Standard norm in our respective cities. I was pleased to be one of those speakers, sharing the child’s perspective from an engagement and communication apporach. More importantly, it was rewarding opportunity to learn as a participant alongside practitioners, think creatively, and be forced to think as children and play!

The format was invigorating. It challenged us to think differently and try to identify the core issues to address before trying to identify solutions, a task I know from leading workshops myself that can be extremely challenging for planners and designers. But the biggest take away from the process is that in order to plan for mobility from a child’s perspective, three things need to happen:

• The narrative of how we understand streets are to be used needs to change
• Governance needs to evolve to value to voices of children in the process
• Our public spaces need to inspire more fun in daily life

Tim Asperges, Urban Planning Expert at the City of Leuven, said it best: “We need to use the power of the voices of children to redesign our public space.”

When it came time to prototype, while at first I wanted to create guidances to change the narrative, I opted to collaborate with the ‘fun’ group. We developed a ‘s’Surprise for the City’, creating space for play overnight and asking reflective questions like, “When you stop playing, do forget how to have fun?” Because maybe at the end of the day, what we all need is to remember the joy public spaces used to bring us as children, and embrace it for our own sake and for the sake of children today and in the future.

I may not speak for everyone, but I certainly returned home reinvigorated. I have lots of new ideas, and a desire to challenge colleagues to consider if their inclusive approaches include the needs of children for safety, curiousity, and fun. Or do they simply reinforce the norm that has pushed them into the backseat figuratively and literally.

At the moment, the Child Standard is a Flemish coalition of organisations. What remains to be seen is how this grows. Why can’t their be a European Child Standard for mobility planning and design, or even a global one? Not a document that sits on a shelf, but a framework of actionable ideas that put children and their needs front and centre.

I’m excited to see where we all take things from here. And if anyone wants to collaborate to surprise their city, let me know. I, like many people, would welcome more fun in my life!

Want to learn more about the Child Standard Coalition? Check out their vision here or watch the video I made together with Sanne Vanderstraeten and the City of Genk for EIT UMX below.