Beyond Design: Building Ecosystems for Arts, Play & Learning

Arts, play and learning shouldn’t be add-ons to urban development. Drawing on eight years in Govandi’s Natwar Parekh Colony, Natasha Sharma shares how abandoned spaces were reclaimed as community-led environments for children and caregivers, by listening, designing with locals, and sustaining the spaces through programming. The session shows that better childhoods mean reimagining the whole neighbourhood, not just designing spaces for children.

What to Expect?

• Use arts and play as tools for participation
• Recognise the neighbourhood as a space for childhood
• Centre children’s imaginations in design
• Reimagine overlooked spaces
• See design as an iterative and adaptive process
• Work with existing conditions through low-cost design elements
• Build community ownership and local leadership
• Sustain spaces beyond construction through deep programming

This Masterclas is designed for:

• Educators, librarians and community learning facilitators
• Playworkers and expressive arts practitioners
• Parents, caregivers and community organisers
• Grassroots organisations working with children and families
• Artists, designers and architects working in development practice
• Urban practitioners, planners and policymakers
• Government authorities and institutions responsible for urban infrastructure
  
  It is especially useful for anyone wondering: “Am I missing some signs? Am I looking at my child in a holistic way? Am I supporting ALL children?”