Many children spend their childhood in the city, but what is the urban environment like from the child’s point of view? Does the design take sufficient account of the child’s well-being, especially in outdoor spaces aimed at children, but also everywhere in the city?
In recent years, interesting research results have been published on how contact with nature supports health and especially diversifies the body’s important microbiome. Versatile movement supports well-being in many ways, but it is worrying that children move and spend less time outdoors. In addition, children’s range of movement has shrunk over the decades and nowadays a child does not necessarily leave the house or its yard without the company of parents. This emphasizes the importance of the immediate environment from the front door.
With planning, we want to try to solve these challenges and make the urban environment more child-friendly. That’s why we have developed a toolkit for child-friendly design, which can be used to take into account children’s needs in all design sites and environments – daycare centers and schools as one of the most important daily environments for children. The principle is that solutions that support children’s well-being are those that
• encourage spontaneous movement,
• enable contact with nature and
• increase learning opportunities outdoors.
Placing children’s well-being at the center of planning of the urban environment brings benefits – not only for children but for city dwellers of all ages. Child-friendly environments support inclusion, well-being, sustainability and natural diversity. A good environment for children is also a good environment for everyone else.
We are happy to tell you more about child-friendly design and help in the development of a child-friendly environment in various projects, both in urban planning and, for example, in the design of school and kindergarten yards. Contact .
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Metsäpohjainen piha paransi päiväkotilasten immuunijärjestelmää jo kuukaudessa