New speakers announced for Child in the City 2024
Experts in child rights, urban geography and play policy are among the latest speakers now confirmed for our forthcoming Child in the City Seminar.
Keep on Moving takes place in Rotterdam in December, and it will be important gathering of child professionals whose ideas are influencing how cities provide play opportunities for children.
Our three keynote speakers, Sanne de Vries, Christian Reutlinger and Gretel Vila, will be supported by some of the foremost experts in child issues through presentations, break-out sessions, panels and workshops, with the aim of inspiring positive change to help build a better world for our future generations.
With a background in climate sciences, Nadine Junghanns is a child rights advocate at UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein, with a focus on child-friendly living spaces. She will speak in Rotterdam about the requirements of child-friendly traffic space design and what recommendations are being developed for practical actions.
Andreas De Mesmaeker is a project officer at Kind & Samenleving (‘Child and Society’) – a Belgium-based knowledge centre that works on behalf of children and young people, and describes itself as a ‘creator of play fabric plans for local authorities’. With a background in urban planning and geography, Andreas will talk about issues around child-friendly public space, education and participation around sustainable land use and natural playgrounds.
Collaboration of professionals from different disciplines is urgently needed
As both a lawyer and urban planning specialist, Vivian Cordero-Vinueza is driven by a desire for social and environmental justice. A PhD candidate in Spatial Science at the University of Groningen, Vivian’s research examines how child-friendly cities can be incorporated within local governance agendas. She is also a founding member of Huasipichanga, an interdisciplinary consultancy for urban transformations which has bases in Ecuador and the Netherlands.
These and other speakers and presenters will contribute to our seminar, looking at how physical activity is such an essential factor in children’s wellbeing, over three main topics:
- Inclusive Spaces and Initiatives for Play and Sports.
- Children’s Mobility
- Climate Change and Climate Justice
Global research indicates a serious decrease in childrenā€™s physical activity, including outdoor play. At the same time, we can see that the screen time of young people is only increasing. A growing body of evidence show that a lack of physical activity has a significant impact on young peopleā€™s health, as illustrated by rising figures of obesity, decreased motor skills, mental problems, isolation, and loneliness. So how do we square this circle?
These negative trends call for leadership from (non)governmental organisations on different scale levels, and to increase childrenā€™s everyday physical activity, the collaboration of professionals from different disciplines is urgently needed. That’s why Keep on Moving promises to be such an important event, bringing together the great and the good from the child professionals and policy sectors.
You can join the debate by attending our seminar from December 3-4, and if you book your place before October 19 you will benefit from our special ‘early bird’ registration offer.
Interested? Please click here for more information.
We look forward to seeing you in Rotterdam.
