The Flemish network of Child Friendly Cities
Belgium

In 1999 the Research Institute Childhood and Society (Kind & Samenleving) made the first contacts to establish a network of child friendly cities in Flanders. Several cities, provinces and supportive organisations, as well as the Minister and ministry of Youth joined the network. The mission statement emphasis on 4 essential qualities for a child friendly city: susceptibility, mobility, accessibility and usefulness. First priority of the Network in the years 2001-2002 was public space. A contest for cities to reward striking projects of child friendly design in the public area was organised. The winning projects were published in a book. A congress was also organised in which people working on Youth policy and professionals in spatial planning and urban design met and discussed for the first time in Flanders. In 2003 the contest was repeated and similar meetings were organised in other provinces. Information and communication was chosen as the new priority for 2004. Action surveys in 2 small cities were started, namely Dendermonde (43,000 inh.) and Bornem (20,000 inh.). A first project was set up to improve the communication and a task force on information for children was created. The city of Mechelen invited the Network to organise a congress to concretise child friendly policy in Flanders. A decision was taken to hold the congress in December 2004 in Mechelen. Several stakeholders work together in the Flemish network, namely: the Research Institute Childhood and Society (Kind & Samenleving), a NGO working in particular on childhood and spatial planning; the Federation of Flemish municipal youth services and local youth officers (Vereniging Vlaamse Jeugdiensten – VVJ); the Ministry of Youth of the Flemish Community (AJS); Youth and City (J&S), a NGO working on the challenge for young people living in big cities; different cities and provinces; Antwerp, Ghent, Genk, Mechelen, Sint-Niklaas, Louvain, Hasselt, Bruges, Brussels; provinces Antwerp and Flemish Brabant. .

Contact
Vereniging Vlaamse Jeugdiensten – VVJ
Federation of Flemish municipalities
Vijverlaan 53
Wilrijk (Antwerp)
B-2610 Belgium
E-mail info@vvj.be