Protect the Schools

Good Practice

Equality, Sustainability

Transforming the school environment, putting children’s safety and wellbeing at the centre through various actions.

Barcelona City Council

Spain

Local policy

POLICY OBJECTIVE

Key objectives are to:

Improve environmental quality and comfort of public space.
Increase road safety.
Increase visibility and involvement of educational and neighbourhood
communities.

CONTEXT

Schools are usually identified as specific community spaces, despite the fact that they are presented as spaces with many potentialities to generate community ties. In addition, schools’ location means that they are exposed to several risk factors associated with traffic, pollution, etc.

POLICY DESCRIPTION

This project is a city strategy to give Barcelona schools a public space that is both a meeting place for children and their families, and for neighbours. With this project, community spaces are expanded, putting citizen, as well as safety and sustainability, at the centre.

KEY ASPECTS

This project is not independent, rather, it is part of a cross-cutting project incorporating a plurality of programmes to transform educational spaces.

Including a time perspective in these programmes changes urban planning. For example, when the surroundings of a school are car-free, children can walk safely and in a more accessible and faster way in the morning. Since parents no longer need to accompany them, it saves time.

RESULTS

From 2019 to 2023, 218 schools have benefited, affecting 86,000 students. Through surveys carried out in the educational community, citizens positively value the increase in public space for pedestrians, games for children, actions aimed at cutting traffic and/or eliminating a traffic lane, etc.

Policy's Website

Andrea / Raquel

Ballbé / Calvo

Directorate for Urban Strategy Management of the Head Architect – Urban Ecology

aballbe@bcn.cat

Good Practice