Society

Children design smarter, child-friendly city

More than 270 children aged 8 to 14 are taking part in a summer programme to design a “smarter and more child-friendly” city.
Children design smarter, child-friendly city ảnh 1Children talk about their ideas for a smarter and more child-friendly city (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) - More than 270children aged 8 to 14 are taking part in a summer programme to design a“smarter and more child-friendly” city.

The programme called “Children Innovate: a Smartand Child-friendly City” kicked off on June 8.

It was organised by UNICEF Vietnam incollaboration with the Saigon Innovation Hub (SiHub) under the city’sDepartment of Science and Technology, Department of Planning andArchitecture, and Arkki - School of Architecture for Children and Youth inFinland.

“The programme creates an environment forchildren to express their opinions about decisions that may affect them,” saidMarianne Oehlers, chief of programme partnerships office at UNICEF Vietnam.

It consists of 11 creative thinking workshopsduring this summer for children, including vulnerable and disadvantagedchildren.

Each workshop lasts for five days with a dailyschedule from 9am to 4pm. There will be three hands-on working sessions duringeach day.

Participants will use clay, wood, computers,Sketch up and Microsoft Hololens to express their ideas.

Nguyen Phi Van, chairwoman of Saigon InnovationHub’s Board of Advisors, said: “Our aim is to provide kids with human-centereddesign thinking, important skills for the 21st century, and STEAM(Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) knowledge.”

Twenty-five children took part in the firstworkshop, she said.

"I find the program a lot of fun. We havelearned many ways to build a child-friendly city based on our own views,” saidHoang Mai Anh, 11, from Tran Van On Secondary School in District 1, whoattended the first workshop.

All the ideas and projects will be displayed atan exhibition during Creativity and Innovation Week inOctober to urban planning experts, decision-makers and the public.

The best ideas and projects will receive awardsfrom the organisation.

The programme is part of the city’s ChildFriendly City Initiative Project that runs from 2017 to 2021. -VNA
VNA
#children #summer programme #smart city #child-friendly city #UNICEF #Saigon Innovation Hub (SiHub) #urban planning #vietnamplus #Vietnam News Agency
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