"We are guilty of many errors and many faults,

But our worst crime is abandoning the children,

Neglecting the fountain of life.

Many of the things we need can wait.

Right now is the time his bones are being formed,

His blood is being made,

And his senses are being developed.

To him we cannot answer 'tomorrow'

His name is Today."

-"His Name is Today" by Gabriela Mistral

What is Urban95?

Do you know how many children live in cities? The number is over a billion! Yet, these citizens are often ignored in city planning. Cities can be wondrous places to grow up, but they can also pose serious challenges for healthy child development – with consequences for the next generation of adults. The Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) has identified the critical need to focus on the child within the environments where they live and grow.

A recent webinar from the Bernard van Leer Foundation and ISSA was centered on this topic – specifically on how to inspire key actors to get involved.

Find more on the webinar…

Urban95 projects have collected many lessons-learned. The webinar focused on how to build a case for improving the conditions in which children grow and mobilize different actors on different levels of the system to get involved. It raised the following questions:

• How can awareness around the problem of environments and its effect on young children be raised?
• Who are the key stakeholders/players? Who are the best allies^[1] at different levels of the system and how to mobilize them?
• What are the main achievements and the main challenges in mobilizing and retaining representatives at different levels of the system?

The webinar was moderated by Zorica Trikic, Senior Program Manager at ISSA and focused on the experiences and knowledge of the following panelists:

Ardan Kockelkoren, Urban 95 coordinator, Bernard van Leer Foundation [Bio]

Simon Battisti, Director, Qendra Marrëdhënie (Relationship Center), neighborhood planning initiatives for infants, toddlers, and caregivers [Bio]

Rodrigo Rubido Alonso, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Instituto Elos [Bio]

Vivian Doumpa, Urban Planner & Geographer Placemaker and Trainer, Stipo [Bio]

You can listen as they share their insights into mobilizing such change here and find the PowerPoint slides here.

We have more on this topic…

The topic of this webinar will be explored more in-depth during a pre-conference workshop, Cities for the Youngest Residents - Practical Solutions for Nurturing Environments, this June at the ISSA Conference. 

This one-day workshop will present a unique opportunity to put yourself in the shoes of a young child and view the city from their point of view.

You can learn more about how to join here!

[1] Stressed as a key point in BvLF webinar - https://bernardvanleer.org/news/watch-online-our-webinar-on-the-urban95-challenge/