Safe Vibrant Healthy Public Spaces
The project ‘Safe Vibrant Healthy Public Spaces’ began in Dec 2022. It is conducted in partnership with WRI India and supported by Fondation Botnar under their ‘Healthy Cities for Adolescents’ program. The project's primary objective is for adolescents to experience safe, healthy, and vibrant cities in 2 cities (Bhubaneswar & Jaipur) in India by 2025. Aaina is one of the implementation partners in Bhubaneswar
The project objectives are
- to enhance knowledge among officials and stakeholders in 2 cities to plan and implement adolescent-friendly public spaces involving adolescents,
- to enhance the knowledge of adolescents about the ways in which they can contribute towards the process of development of safe, vibrant, and healthy public spaces
- to inform city and citizens about a testing model for developing adolescent-friendly public spaces
- to let the emergence of focus cities as examples of proof of concept for creating adolescent-friendly public space through systematic public space audits and using tactical urbanism as a testing mechanism.
The intent is to develop the capacities of a minimum of 250 adolescents regarding public spaces so they can participate and help in developing healthy, safe, and vibrant public spaces. Additionally, liaise and communicate with community members and city officials on the process and development to make the process participatory.
Currently, more than 230 adolescents have conducted audits in Bhubaneswar and some of them are taking lead roles as Governance Council Members and will represent other adolescents in upcoming national-level platforms.
