Coalition members represent youth in Streets for Kids by Kids session

 
 
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Last Tuesday, May 18, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) held a webinar called Streets for Kids by Kids: Supporting All-Ages Engagement and Youth-Centered Design to talk about the role of young people in urban development.

The session was moderated by Anne Siprikova, Program Manager of NACTO- Global Designing Cities Initiative, and featured youth activists and leaders that help bring young people in work and projects for better city design. The panelists include Monty Mouat β€“ a young cycling activist in Wellington, New Zealand, Vasiliy Vishnevsky β€“ Director for City Development at the Yuzhno – Sakhalinsk in Russia, Alison Collard de Beaufort β€“ Founder and Executive Director of the Vision Zero Youth Council and Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety Youth Advisory Board Member, and Aldo Gonzales Barrera – Founder of La Banqueta se Respeta Movement and Global Youth Coalition Member. 

 
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During the first part of the session, Skye Duncan – Director of the Global Designing Cities Initiative in NACTO spoke with Monty about what it means for children like her low-speed streets and safer communities. To this, Monty spoke about how she loved cycling to and from school. It was a way for her to exercise and get fresh air.

Monty also advised young people to get involved in making cities safer for walking and cycling by reaching out to local decision-makers. β€œFind out if you have a resident association to have councils and other organizations to work with” – Monty Mouat. 

 

 
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After Monty, Director for City Development at the Yuzhno – Sakhalinsk in Russia, Vasily Vishnevsky, talked about the initiatives his organization is doing to get young people, especially kids involved in city design. He talked about they created games and β€œhackathons” where kids interacted with systems that help them design parks, bike lanes, and more to contribute to urban development. 

β€œI always ask myself; what would our cities look if they were designed by kids? It’s important to take into account that the key resource is human resource, especially kids. People and kids choose the cities where they have proper infrastructure for their self-fulfillment”
— Vasily Vishnevsky
 
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During the second half of the session, Coalition members Alison Collard de Beaufort and Aldo Gonzales Barrera spoke about how young leaders are being empowered to create change through youth-led organizations.

 
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Alison spoke about how the Vision Zero Youth Council and the Global Youth Coalition are gathering young people both locally and globally to support them in prioritizing youth representation and involvement in decision-making spaces. 

β€œYouth are not just our future; they are our present”
— Alison Collard de Beaufort

During his talk, Aldo talked about the opportunities and the resources the Coalition is providing for its members to make concrete changes in their communities. He highlighted the Local Actions project where he was one of the winners who received a grant to implement a local project in his community in Mexico.

 
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"The Coalition provides youth with resources and opportunities to advocate for road safety in their communities" – Aldo Gonzales

The 6th UN Global Road Safety Week runs from May 17 until May 23. You can still get involved by joining the Coalition activities and other global events. 

 
Maolin Macatangay