For Immediate Release: February 16, 2022
Contact: Annah MacKenzie | annah@gdci.global
The Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) announced the launch of the next phase of the Streets for Kids Program, the Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator. The program will select 60 changemakers from 20 global cities to participate in an eight-month virtual professional leadership program. GDCI will combine its extensive experience working with international cities, street design transformations, and global expert network to share industry best practices and facilitate group peer learning with a goal to advance street designs that create safe public space for kids of all ages and abilities to learn, play, and move about a city.
Program participants will be guided through content inspired from GDCI’s international, award-winning Designing Streets for Kids design guidance, and led by industry experts from around the world.
“Improving the lives of children doesn’t simply start with projects; it starts with people,” said Skye Duncan, executive director of GDCI. “We are thrilled to begin the next phase of our Streets for Kids work to support a global peer network of emerging leaders to serve as champions for designing streets for kids.”
“If you design a street that works for kids, you’ve designed a street that works for everyone,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, NACTO and GDCI chair and principal with Bloomberg Associates. “Putting everyone in the street on equal footing is how cities can lead by design and achieve higher standards of urban care.”
“Streets that are safe, accessible, and fun for babies, toddlers and their caregivers have human impacts that extend far beyond the curb” said Cecilia Vaca Jones, program director of the Bernard van Leer Foundation. “We are thrilled to continue our support for Streets for Kids, as they engage local leaders to champion the importance of early childhood in their city.”
The Streets for Kids Leadership Accelerator is part of a new phase of the Streets for Kids Program which will build off of the first, which partnered with 12 cities around the world to help build local capacity and deliver demonstration projects to showcase the impact of streets designed for and by children and their caregivers. This phase of the Streets for Kids Program will include the Leadership Accelerator paired with follow-up implementation grants and technical support for up to 10 kids-focused street projects worldwide. It will also include additional supplemental resources to the award-winning Designing Streets for Kids Guide which debuted in 2020.
GDCI’s Streets for Kids program is supported by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, FIA Foundation, and Fondation Botnar.
To learn more about the program and apply, please visit the program landing page:
https://gdci.wpengine.com/sfk-2-apply/
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About the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI)
Launched in 2014, the Global Designing Cities Initiative focuses on transforming streets to inspire safe, sustainable, and healthy cities. GDCI’s work is informed by the strategies and international best practices captured in the Global Street Design Guide. To learn more, visit globaldesigningcities.org or follow us on Twitter at @globalstreets.
GDCI marks this World Children's Day with the release of two new booklets, “How to Engage Kids in Street Design” and “How to Evaluate Street Transformations Near Schools.”
In 2023, ten cities across four continents started designing their streets for kids. Collectively, the cohort reclaimed over 40,000 SqM of public space that prioritizes children and caregivers, engaged over 4,000 children in the process, and trained 140 practitioners.
Learn how street transformations designed for children can be scaled up and made permanent.
