Blog
Read the selected insights, thoughts and experiences of our staff and partners.
Managing Urban95 in Tel Aviv-Yafo: An interview with Bosmat Sfaadia-Wolf
Bosmat Sfaadia-Wolf manages the Urban95 programme in Tel Aviv-Yafo, and has been employed by Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality since May 2017. In this interview she explains her unusual employment situation and… Read more
Playgrounds: more than just grounds to play on?
Playgrounds. I learned so much about them over the last couple of days. To be honest, it turned out that I have always taken them for granted. I knew that… Read more
Global Teamwork - An interview with Joan Lombardi
Read the interview with Joan Lombardi, international expert on child development and social policy, for the Global Practices issue of NAEYC's Young Children. Read more
Beschuit met muisjes! A paternity leave breakthrough in the Netherlands
“Beschuit met muisjes” is the typical Dutch treat to celebrate the birth of a child in the Netherlands. They are crackers topped with little candies, blue or pink, for which… Read more
Let’s hear it from the children: How engaging young children, parents and caregivers in city building means creating better cities for all
Think about your city. What if the needs of young children and their caregivers were prioritised (not just considered) in city decision making? How would it look different from what… Read more
95 cm: the city at toddler level – how focusing on young children is changing my perspective on urban planning
From October 10 to 14, urban experts and trend setters from all over the world were gathered in Amsterdam at the annual forum held by the Project for Public Spaces:… Read more
How cities can use dashboards to make better decisions about early childhood
One of the tools used by cities as they collect more data is a “dashboard”: a tool for collating and sharing data in an accessible format. A dashboard can be… Read more
Games and art bring Bogotá community together
The first Urban95 Crezco con mi barrio (“Growing with my neighbourhood”) experimenting exercise took place on Sunday October 1, with the purpose of giving public space back to the people… Read more
Coaching and connecting – how we’re getting cities interested in Urban95
I started working with the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 initiative earlier this year after leaving KaBOOM!, the US-based non-profit I had run for 20 years. KaBOOM! began with a… Read more
Why Walking Is So Good for Parents, Toddlers, and the Cities Where They Live
Planning and managing cities has become one of humanity’s defining challenges, yet it is hard to know how to plan for what a city needs now and in the future… Read more