Parks are essential for all of us but are less used by women and girls due to concerns about safety, health and wellbeing impacts. Feeling unsafe in parks affects women and girls ability to move freely around towns and cities, limits opportunities to socialize, to improve well-being and to engage in physical activity and exercise.
This webinar presents the findings of new research by the University of Leeds which explored what women and girls identify makes a park feel safe and unsafe and provides an overview of new guidance that illustrates how parks managers, design professionals and others can make changes to park design and management to help women and girls feel safer and more welcome in these spaces, at all times of day and throughout the year.
The webinar will cover the ten principles of the guidance, which sit within three core areas:
1) Eyes on the Park reflects that the presence of others makes women and girls feel safer;
2) Awareness addresses design issues that can help women and girls feel more secure; and 3) Inclusion considers the importance of bringing a diverse cross-section of women and girls into our parks and designing spaces with their input. It will also illustrate how the principles can be applied using case studies from the UK and abroad.
The guidance was produced in partnership between Keep Britain Tidy, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the University of Leeds, and Make Space for Girls. It was funded by the Mayor of West Yorkshire and the Economic and Social Research Council.