15.10.2016 - Ausgabe: 5/2016

Who is talking when and to whom? And, above all, how?

By Christina Peterburs, Planning Office STADTKINDER (City Kids)

Children are always playing and, above all, they are playing everywhere. That is why they do not only need typical playground areas, but also open spaces in nature and in the city to develop and get some exercise. Here, low walls are turning into balancing beams, fences into climbing facilities or paving slabs are used for hopscotching. But due to various restrictions, public city spaces are hardly any longer available as playgrounds for children. The road space is too unsafe, free spaces are under development, so children are kept away from public spaces.

In addition to that, the municipal budgets for the preservation and maintenance of playgrounds are becoming ever smaller. Playgrounds are abandoned or, in the worst case, playing areas are sold for construction. In many places, children scarcely have a chance to benefit from playgrounds or to explore the city as a playing, adventure and recreation area.

Whereas at the same time, more and more municipalities speak of themselves as child-friendly communities. This is how they try to win young families over to settle there and become long-term taxpayers.  Others have already realised that a city with a future and worth living is characterised, above all, by recreational facilities for children and a child-oriented and safe urban design.

More and more local councils are taking this aspect into account, not only by paying attention to their existing outdoor playgrounds, but also by increasingly analysing potential playing areas and open spaces. Because playing and physical exercise is not only the concern of the Youth Welfare Office or the Parks Department, the authorities responsible for playgrounds. It is absolutely important to consider city areas as playing and movement spaces in all their diversity and therefore to involve all relevant authorities and cooperation partners. These include the planning authorities, the urban transport planning, the Parks Department, local youth and education authorities, the Sports Department, the local Sports Federation, the Office for Environmental and Climate Protection, the Social Welfare Office and the Health Department. They are all linked to the city as a living space in which children are able to develop and grow up healthy and safe.

How then can all these actors with their different interests and aims be brought together? And what, if children, young people and adults are also to be involved in the design process? How could the aim of successful design planning be achieved?

Above all, it is essential to organise –  in due time - a sustainable communication and participation management, both in and outside the administrative authorities.

What is needed most, is an overall responsible contact person, who is not only interested in this topic, but who, above all, has the necessary time and resources. The integrated design of an urban playing area cannot be implemented simply as a side issue. The management function alone requires much time and commitment.

The cross-sectional planning orientation is also reflected in some internal administrative work and coordination processes. A cross-departmental working group, which jointly accompanies the on-going process and maintains regular contact, could pave the way for the necessary measures to be adopted in good time.

This working group is the central committee for integrated planning of urban playing areas and will play a decisive role in the successful implementation of the planning. The tasks of this working group are, amongst others, the joint identification of objectives and process steps, the exchange between the different departments involved about on-going projects or current plans and the organisation of participative processes. It may be helpful to ask an experienced external moderator to accompany the meetings of the group who ensures that all parties involved listen impartially to their different points of view.

Annual or half-yearly scoping meetings, which are already standard in environmental impact assessment, may also be a benefit for the planning of integrated playing areas. Such meetings have been held by the City of Bremerhaven with successful results. Since 2010, an interdepartmental steering committee has been available which has assisted the main planning activities in the suburbs of Geestemünde and Lehe. Furthermore, this steering committee has also held regular meetings beyond these sessions. Based on a resolution of the municipal council, the steering committee has the task to convoke twice a year scoping meetings to assess all measures and projects of the City of Bremerhaven and their relevance for children and youngsters. In the frame of this Scoping it is explained how children and youngsters could be involved in these measures. This will ensure the continuous exchange between the different authorities involved and the participation of children and youngsters over the long term.

The communication with the public and the participation management are also basic elements of a successfully integrated design planning of playing areas. It is important to let the children, young people and adults know that their comments and proposals are taken seriously and integrated into the planning process. An essential aspect of this is treating the persons involved with respect and appreciation. Here it is also useful to involve external support. A moderator may act as mediator between the administrative authorities and the citizens and can take up suggestions in an unbiased way. This person has the necessary experience and knows the specific methods to be applied with regard to the respective target group and, if necessary, knows how to adopt the appropriate methods.

But what, if a situation becomes too stagnant and conceptual progress seems impossible because the parties involved no longer communicate with each other? If instead of cooperative work there is nothing but accusations and hostile behaviour? In this case, conflict moderation or mediation would be advisable. The aim of mediation is to mediate between the parties involved so that they may re-establish a constructive relationship. The mediator in this context is a neutral third party accompanying the conflicting parties towards a joint and mutually acceptable solution. He or she is responsible for procedural fairness and mediates, for example, between the different authorities or between the administration and the different actors or user groups. Thereby, the mediation passes through different phases. These structured methods ensure that a rapprochement between both parties becomes possible and help to achieve mutual understanding for the respective positions. The focus here is the joint development of feasible solutions which are acceptable to both sides.  First of all, the different conflict-related perspectives, the respective needs and the framework conditions will be determined and documented.

The task for the moderator is to capture emotions and to bring the procedure back to a neutral discussion level. He or she has to guarantee a transparent and authentic procedure during the entire mediation process. Then, at the end, measures or solutions should be agreed upon, which are to be adhered to and implemented by the conflicting parties. Especially in the field of planning playing areas with extremely divergent interests and needs of the parties involved, there are always many conflicts and much potential for conflicts, all of which may be solved through mediation or conflict moderation.

Regardless of how the process of an integrated design planning of playing areas is structured, whether participation is included or not, without the respective participation and communication management at the very beginning of the project and without an open and comprehensive communication on a regular basis between all actors involved, a successful implementation of such a project is almost impossible.

 

Photo: Planning Office STADTKINDER (City Kids