Following the successful completion of the first phase of the Urban95 program in Pune, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Netherlands-based Bernard van Leer Foundation (BVLF) have launched the second phase of the programme.
This phase focuses on scaling up initiatives and learning across the city to make urban areas accessible to infants, toddlers, young children and their caregivers, and to help the city meet the needs of this demographic and Infrastructure and services can be provided to better support them.
BVLF will support the PMC through technical assistance through teams of urban planning and design experts and early childhood development. Aegis India Consulting Engineers, Aegis International SA and Aga Khan Foundation have joined as technical partners during the second phase.
Going forward, PMC plans to increase child- and family-friendly features and components in public spaces, mobility and transportation, neighborhood planning, and early childhood services. It aims to improve the conditions of children, their caregivers, pregnant women and municipal employees serving these groups.
It also plans to enhance the physical and psychological health of children in the age group of 0-5 and their caregivers including parents, grandparents or siblings.
A program management unit set up by Aegis will work closely with Pune authorities to support the implementation of projects beneficial to young children and families. Urban infrastructure projects will include elements suited to children under the age of five and their caregivers, with a focus on green infrastructure, mobility, public spaces and early childhood urban services. The team will work closely with city managers and technical teams to strengthen urban guidelines, norms and regulations and strengthen existing city capacity.
Meanwhile, Parents+, an initiative under the Urban95 umbrella, is being offered in Pune with the Aga Khan Foundation as a technology partner. The program will focus on promoting early childhood programs and enhancing existing guidelines and policies by focusing on COVID-19 Realities PMC and the Aga Khan Foundation will provide training and support to caregivers, frontline workers, civic representatives, community organizations and city workers. Behavioral science will be incorporated in this initiative to ensure maximum awareness and utilization of better services and infrastructure and encourage sustainable early childhood development behaviour.
During the first phase of Urban95, PMC carried out temporary and semi-permanent interventions such as creating a child-friendly space at Salunke Vihar, converting Sonawane Hospital’s outer waiting space into a child and family-friendly area, inaugurating a children’s traffic plaza Doing. To develop child-friendly crossings at Bremen Square in Aundh, and at Wanawadi for children and their caregivers.
– Stay updated with the latest news from Pune. Follow Express Pune twitter here and on facebook here. You can also connect with our Express Pune telegram channel here.F
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said: “PMC is the main partner of this project and it is believed that this project will be a beacon project for other cities. In India, the first phase of this initiative has been adopted by 3 cities – Pune in Maharashtra, Udaipur in Rajasthan and Bhubaneshwar in Orissa. After the success of Urban 95 Phase-I in these cities, work is now underway for Phase II of the Urban 95 project in Pune and Udaipur. A total of 21 interventions will be implemented over the next 2-3 years and the focus will be on expanding the concept and sustaining the concept. In this phase of the project, the focus will also be on strategically formulating policy on Early Childhood Development (ECD) and creating a child-centric city by incorporating those elements in the development projects of the Corporation.
BVLF India representative Rushda Majeed said: “During the first phase of Urban 95, we saw several successes in the form of the implementation of temporary and pilot projects, increased capacity of the frontline workforce and municipal teams, and the adoption of key Urban 95 principles by the city. carried forward. Officers and citizens alike. As a classic example, PMC inaugurated a child-friendly traffic plaza in Bremen Square to support young citizens and shape their behavior in public places. Phase II Will now focus on scaling up all Urban 95 elements across the city. We are grateful to PMC for its commitment to creating a child and family friendly city.
—
.