Engagement of children in developing healthy and child-friendly places in Belfast

ABSTRACT

There are currently limited mechanisms for engaging children and considering their needs and priorities in decision-making on the built environment. The Taking Action on Child Friendly Places programme in Belfast has aimed to develop this within a framework inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, focused on creating child-led models that also can inform policy and decision-making. This article will provide an overview of the approach taken, findings and models created.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• urban planning
• urban design
• liveability
• engagement
• co-production
• all age friendly

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For further information on the organisation, see http://www.belfasthealthycities.com/.

2. For further information on WHO Healthy Cities, see http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/urban-health/who-european-healthy-cities-network.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jonna Monaghan

Jonna Monaghan graduated from the University of Helsinki with a degree in journalism and holds a MSc in Science Communication from Queen’s University Belfast/Dublin City University. She joined Belfast Healthy Cities in 2002 and held roles in information, research and policy before taking on a strategic role in 2013. In this role, she led the innovative Healthy Urban Environment programme, which aims to explore people centred planning and ways to reunite planning and health.