First meeting: Monday 21st July 2014 at 5 p.m.

Looks that change the worldChildren, cities

XXX Incontro internazionale degli educatori Freinet – RIDEF)

Giancarlo CavinatoMCE

EDUCATION AND POLICIES • ENTIRETY• PROTECTION AND SAFEGUARDING OF THE CULTURE OF CHILDHOOD• AUTONOMY• RESILIENCE• COOPERATION• RESPONSIBILITY• PARTICIPATION• ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP

GROWING CITIES 21 cities have more than 10 million inhabitants and they are growingA milliard human beings (aged 0-18) live in cities

A DIFFERENT WORLD IS POSSIBLE

ONLY EDUCATION CAN CHANGE THE WORLD (Margherita Zoebeli)

STARTING FROM PEACE EDUCATION AND FROM EDUCATION FOR THE CREATIVE SOLUTION OF CONFLICTS

A FAIRER CITY TO REACH THE OUTCASTSThe city of little boys and little girls is the city of all men and women More and more children live in slumsWe stop them from developing their potentialities and we deprive society of the benefits due to a healthy, educated urban population

MAKE PUBLIC POLICIES FOCUS ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS(wellness, education, protection from violence and abuse, participation…)

THE CITY IS A COMPLEX SYSTEMcities of the rich - cities of the poorcentres and outskirtscities of the north and cities of the south of the world

URBAN SUFFERINGexperience of exclusion• poverty and vulnerability of families• decaying suburbs• loneliness and fear• passive subjects who receive fragmentary care intervention by

institutions • division of urban population into categories that are not integrated

POSSIBLE ANSWERS (besides education) Nobody can make it on one's own• creation of solidarity networks (institutions, organizations, citizens,.)• change from the logic of assistance to the logic of responsibility• workshops to mix social and political education• finding creative solutions for difficult questions

THE CITY OF THE FUTURE:FROM THE CITY OF EXCLUSION TO THE CITY OF INCLUSION• URBAN PLANNING- ‘MENDING’ OUTSKIRTS (Renzo Piano: small changes to embellish without dismantling)- CONNECTION OF SPACES- ACCESS TO SERVICES- CARE FOR "WEAK" USERS OF THE CITY • SEARCH FOR BEAUTY• BUILDING PLACES OF MEETINGS (not separation) • Place of opportunities, of communication

CARE OF PUBLIC PLACESthe square, the school, the social centre, the library, the park,..

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CITY AND OF THE RYTHM OF LIFE CAN ENHANCE/ DENY PLAYING GAMESart. 31 Right to Play ConventionPublic places intended for playing games

WHAT HELPS?• proper public spaces• autonomous mobility• meeting opportunities• sustainable and not frantic rhythm of family life• traffic reduction

LIMITS TO COGNITIVE, SOCIAL, PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT• no games• children banned from public spaces• domestic spaces that are hyper-structured and intended for solitary tuition• social life inside the house• the school seen as a place of mind/body separation and sectorial, abstract

learning

CONSEQUENCES • lack of autonomy and of the ability to choose ( mobility, socializing,

playing, problem solving)• no development of creativity• linguistic and cultural poverty • limited development of spacetime and causal concepts• no development of prediction abilities and of understanding consequences • limited assumption of responsibilities• limited and fragmentary knowledge of the urban and environmental

reality

CHILDREN AS PARAMETERS OF URBAN QUALITYLITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS AND THEIR OPINIONS MUST BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION (art. 12)

Little boys' and girls' point of view can contribute to modify adults' behavior - this is our program

THE HIGHEST INTEREST OF CHILDREN must be considered first in every choice

AN AGREEMENT FOR THE CITY among:ADMINISTRATORS, PARENTS, EDUCATORS, CITIZENS, HEALTHCARE AND SOCIO-CULTURAL WORKERS, URBAN PLANNERS, ARCHITECTS, TRAFFIC WARDENS, SHOPKEEPERS.

THE CITY AS A PLACE OF PERSONAL AND SOCIAL GROWING, SUSTAINABILITY, LEARNING.

‘I'd like to send you, architects, a message in a bottle. Consider your job as the creation of future places for children. Cities and landscape will create their world of images and desire…..you mustn't only design

buildings but you must create spaces of freedom so that superabundance does not make the surrounding world invisible’

(Wim Wenders)

UNICEF'S RECOMMENDATIONS TO BUILD FRIENDLY CITY FOR LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS • PROMOTING PARTICIPATION AND TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION

LITTLE BOYS' AND GIRLS' PROPOSALS EXPRESSED THROUGH REPRESENTATIVE BODIES

• ENCOURAGING INSTITUTIONS AT ALL LEVELS IN ORDER TO GET A PROPER LEGISLATION

• INVESTING RESOURCES IN THESE OBJECTIVES• MONITORING CHILDHOOD'S CONDITIONS • SPREADING AND PROMOTING THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE RESPECT

FOR RIGHTS

PARTICULAR FOCUS ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES - LITTLE GIRLS' RIGHTS(EDUCATION, HOUSEWORK, EARLY MARRIAGE, VIOLENCE, DISCRIMINATION IN FAMILIES, AT SCHOOL,..)

THE SCHOOL• EDUCATION FOR REALITY( TAMED IMAGE)• RESEARCH METHODOLOGY TO CREATE A DIFFERENT CULTURE• RIGHT KNOWLEDGE AND CLAIM• BUILDING UP IDENTITIES THANKS TO SHARED NARRATION • WORLDWIDE CITIZENSHIP ( E. MORIN)

A CITY EDUCATES IF IT NARRATES AND ONE NARRATES THANKS TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE