The Urban95 Academy leadership programme with LSE trains over 100 cities to improve the lives of young children

The Urban95 Academy is a leadership programme designed for municipal leaders across the world to learn and develop strategies to make cities better for babies, toddlers and their caregivers.

A joint collaboration between the Bernard van Leer Foundation and the London School of Economics and Political Science, the executive education course  will provide training to over100 cities in three separate cohorts throughout 2022.

Open to municipal leaders across the world, participants will learn over six weeks of online courses and virtual meetings how they can effectively deliver policies and services for everyone by reimagining the urban realm with babies, toddlers, and caregivers at the centre.

The Academy features original content from Urban95, LSE and guest faculty from interdisciplinary knowledge partners including: Arup, Brookings, Clean Air Fund, Gehl, ITDP, NACTO and Princeton University’s Innovation for Successful Societies Program.

Towards the end of the programme, participants will prepare a strategy outline for their city. Those with the most promising ideas for making their cities better for young children will be invited to attend a sponsored week-long in-person training session at LSE in London.

Commenting on the launch of the Academy, Dr Savvas Verdis, a Senior Research Fellow at LSE Cities said: “One of the great opportunities of the Urban95 Academy is to rethink cities from the perspective of babies, toddlers and their caregivers, asking the very simple question: what would cities look like if they were designed from 95 centimetres, the height of a healthy 3-year-old?”

For more information on the project or to register interest, visit: www.urban95academy.org

Deadline to apply for the first cohort is 15 November 2021

Cohorts will be selected to ensure geographical diversity. Participation in the Urban95 Academy is fully funded by the Bernard Van Leer Foundation.