Child-Friendly Communities
There was a time when kids had free range of their neighborhoods—shimmying up trees, biking around their community, and being greeted by neighbors. Today, however, children are growing up unhealthy, obese, and depressed in sprawling subdivisions. We cannot damage the health of another generation of children.
The ultimate goal of this project is to improve children’s health and development by making the neighborhood in which they live child and nature friendly.
The purpose of the project is to create a “Child-Friendly Community” Certification Program that gathers together under one umbrella all of the guidelines necessary to design and restore neighborhoods that encourage children’s physical and emotional health and well-being—neighborhoods that provide children with the free range and daily contact with nature and community that their grandparents enjoyed.
The guidelines will incorporate the collective wisdom—from many disciplines and many countries—to set standards for Child-Friendly Communities. Qualifying projects by developers and municipalities will be officially certified and celebrated as “Child-Friendly.”
The International Making Cities Livable Council and the National Town Builders Association are partnering to guide this effort. They will work with national leaders, allied organizations and expert advisors to create the guidelines and standards. With this leadership, we can build a new wave of Child-Friendly Communities, empowering kids to reclaim their great outdoors.
To Learn More
International Making Cities Livable Council and the National Town Builders Association
Suzanne.Lennard@LivableCities.org
PO Box 7586,
Carmel, CA, 93921
831.625.4282
www.childfriendlycommunities.org
