Children experience street infrastructure uniquely. However, how we design streets doesn’t always consider children’s needs. This blog spotlights two successful street interventions in Fortaleza, Brazil and Santiago, Chile, which made streets more safe, active and sociable, benefitting children and adults. The Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) Streets for Kids team is a group of urban Read more →

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5 to 29 years. The Streets for Life and #Love30 campaign was the focus of the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week (UNGRSW). As we approach the 7th UNGRSW, here’s another look at Read more →

We have an understandable tendency to put things, people, and issues into boxes. One example of this has been how we’ve historically talked about environmental health separately from child health. For example, separating environmental health departments from those looking at maternal and child health (including at the World Health Organization, no less). But on a Read more →

My last post argued that municipal champions have a crucial role in making neighbourhoods more child-friendly. This post gives four examples of how civil society agencies, alliances and partnerships – especially those at national, regional and local levels – can build momentum and action. It draws on over a quarter of a century of personal Read more →

Waste is a growing global problem which affects the health and well-being of people and the planet. Urban children in low-and middle-income countries, particularly the poorest, are among the most vulnerable to the health and environmental risks caused by poor waste management in cities. In this blog, to inspire our readers to take action, we Read more →

The Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) collaborates with local community groups to transform underutilized risk-prone spaces in Kibera into a resilient and productive network of public spaces. This network of public spaces – comprising toilets, multipurpose halls, micro-enterprises, laundry facilities, play spaces, vegetable gardens, and schools – builds physical, social and economic resilience in informal communities Read more →

In our latest Ask an Expert Series blog, we speak with Cecilia Vaca Jones. Cecilia has over 20 years of experience leading public and private-sector organisations to promote and enable child-responsive policies and programmes at national and global levels. In this interview, Cecilia shares her insights on leading the Bernard van Leer Foundation from 2019 Read more →

Pedestrian Space is a media and advocacy platform that celebrates and promotes walkability in cities. In the last two years, Pedestrian Space has grown exponentially. We spoke with the founder Annika Lundkvist to find out more about her journey, why she feels pedestrian solutions are so critical, and how one person can generate content at Read more →

Parents in Nairobi tell their stories about how climate change and air pollution are affecting the health of their children – and share their vision for a healthier, cleaner future. Children are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change, including the effects of heat and air pollution. African cities, including Nairobi, are facing Read more →

Cycling supports climate-friendly cities and the well-being of children and families in many ways, from improving air quality and health to increasing road safety. In the run-up to COP27, Lucas Snaije of BYCS, an Amsterdam-based global NGO supporting community-led urban change through cycling, discusses how programmes to support uptake in Latin America offer strong evidence Read more →

In the lead up to this year’s 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt, we spoke with Omnia El Omrani, the official Youth Envoy for COP27. Youth across the world play a tremendous role in energising and elevating the climate movement. Here, Omnia explains her role as Youth Envoy and how children and youth Read more →

In the latest from our Ask an Expert series, we sit down with David Satterthwaite to hear more about his vast years of experience in the urban and environment space. David’s impressive research and writing has been cited more than 32,000 times.   We would love to hear about your journey into urban planning and poverty Read more →