Group photo of the delegation at the Youth Information Assistance Center of the Munich Youth Office

The golden autumn in October coincides with the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the construction of China ’s child-friendly communities has ushered in a gratifying phase. The nine-day China ’s Child-Friendly Community Promotion Program ’s German visit to Germany ended successfully on October 17, 2017. The visit was sponsored by the China Child Friendly Community Promotion Program Office and Beijing Yongzhen Public Welfare Foundation.

3 Visited Cities: Berlin-Potsdam-Munich

5 Symposiums: Intense discussions at the venue, buses, restaurants

Representatives in 6 fields: community governance, social worker training, planning and design, media communication, policy research, children's rights

"7 cities: Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Zhuhai, Changsha

12 Visiting Institutions:

     1) German Child Friendly Cities and Communities Association

     2) Berlin Railway Triangle Park

     3) Child-friendly and family-friendly neighbourhoods in the Prenzlauer Berg community

     4) Machmit Museum

     5) TS Community Children and Youth Council

     6) Urban Planning Bureau of Reinichkendorf District Government

     7) Reinichkendorf Social Organization

     8) Berlin Free High School

     9) Potsdam Children and Youth Office and Urban Youth League

     10) Potsdam Vegetable Academy

     11) Deutsches Museum Children's Kingdom

     12) Youth Information Assistance Center, Munich Youth Office

  Workshop on the Guide to Child Friendly Promotion in Munich

The reason why Germany was selected as the destination of this trip was that as a pioneer in the construction of child-friendly cities in the world, as early as the last century 70 , Germany creatively carried out child-friendly city construction practices. It is also the first country to actively develop its own child-friendly city assessment standards under the guidance of the theoretical framework of child-friendly cities advocated by UNICEF and try to implement the domestic recognition system.

Teacher Zhou Weiyan had a cordial exchange with the head of Potsdam Vegetable Academy

On the other hand, from the perspective of national conditions, Germany is located in the center of Europe, borders nine countries, has a long history, and is culturally diverse. It is the most populous country in the European Union. Its population density is second only to that of Britain and far higher than China. The impact of the relatively balanced urban-rural space on children's development, and the accumulation of a large number of spatial paradigms and laws in the design of children's growth environment, are worthy of careful comparison and reflection in our rapidly urbanizing country. At the same time, with the sharp increase in immigration in recent years, the policy experience and challenges it faces in terms of inclusive education for children and social services are more worthy of investigation and reference.

         Community facilities for children's playgrounds in Berlin

     Berlin community children's playground public facilities picture two

    In short, whether it is “  hardware ” building or “ software ” design, Germany's child-friendly cities (communities) are at the forefront of the world. This trip is a study of Munich, one of the key cities. It is also the most successful city in Germany to implement the “ Child Friendly City ”. It is the first city to sign the Convention on the Rights of the Child and fully implement it at the city level. Cities that are at the core of their administrative decisions and listen carefully to children. " In practice, it pays special attention to forming an effective cross-sector cooperation mechanism, mobilizing the participation of various government departments, non-profit organizations, and children and citizens.

     Children's playground public facilities in Berlin

   Children's playground public facilities in Berlin

In addition to Munich, many cities in Germany have made great achievements in the construction of child-friendly cities (communities). The visiting delegation also visited Berlin and Potsdam and had in-depth exchanges with local social organizations and educational institutions. .

                      Children's Museum Berlin

    Children's Museum Berlin

 The outstanding results of this visit to the school have greatly broadened China's thinking on building a localized certification and supervision system, and provided a lot of theoretical and excellent case support for the further improvement and upgrading of the "Guide to the Construction of China's Child-Friendly Communities." Representatives from the delegation also said that this trip has yielded a lot, and they have made clearer efforts for the next step in their respective fields. In the just-concluded report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it also mentioned several times on the strengthening of the construction of a community governance system; the establishment of an environmental governance system led by the government, with enterprises as the main body, social organizations and the public, and other related policies. The general trend is that I believe that the mature international community governance concept of "child-friendly" will receive more attention and implementation from the central to the local.

 Technopark Berlin

 Berlin Rail Triangle Park logs climbing frame, sawdust instead of rubber ground

Group photo of Berlin's Audio-Technica Park

Experience Sharing from Heads of TS Community Children and Youth Council

   Potsdam Vegetable Academy

Follow-up on the visit of the delegation in Germany, so stay tuned!