Why to Design Spaces with Girls in Mind?

“Only little kids play in the playground. The older ones tell us, ‘You are too old for that,’ so we can not play. There is nowhere for us to sit or play.” Asiye, 12 years old

“People swear a lot in the streets and parks. It makes me uncomfortable. I do not want to go there. I wish there were a place just for us — with no one swearing, with music and dancing.”Zeynep, 10 years old

To design spaces through a girl-centered lens, we define three main stages: Preparation, Design, and Implementation. Each stage guides you through specific steps and activities, and provides access to practical tools such as checklists, evaluation scales, and mapping guides.

Access Guide

The girl-centered spatial design process consists of three stages, with duration varying according to the scale of the project:

Preparation
- 1. Activity 1: Forming a Project Team
  2. Activity 2: Measuring Impact
  1. Activity 1: Who can do what?
  2. Activity 2: Social Networks
  3. Activity 3: Identifying Participating Children
Design
- 1. Activity 1: Spatial Impact Assessment
  2. Activity 2: Community Mapping
  3. Activity 3: Evaluation
  1. Workshop 1: Body Mapping
  2. Workshop 2: Fantastic Creatures
  3. Workshop 3: Walkabout
  4. Workshop 4: Design
Implementation
- 1. Activity 1: Strategic Planning
  2. Activity 2: Problem Scaling
  1. Activity 1: Meeting with Experts
  2. Activity 2: Spatial Implementation
  3. Activity 3: Co-Designing the Space with Children
  4. Activity 4: Piloting

Preparation

During this stage, you assess your current situation, available resources, and how to use them effectively.

Step 1: Capacity Assessment
Step 2: Stakeholder Mapping

Design

Once preparation is complete, you move on to the most creative part: design. This stage is full of play, interaction, and participation.

Regardless of the scale of your spatial implementation, you can apply all the steps and activities in this stage. The insights gained here can help you understand different needs of children, develop new projects, and inform your future programs and activities.

Step 1: Getting to Know Our Neighborhood
Step 2: Environment We Live in Workshop Module
Step 3: Reporting

Implementation

The findings and outcomes of this work can be incorporated into your organization’s strategic plans. Evaluate the reports and what you have experienced together with your team. The results from these workshops can provide valuable insights not only for spatial design, but also for program and activity planning. Based on your findings, you can organize accessibility workshops, nonviolence activities, or parent meetings.

Step 1: Project Preparation
Step 2: Creating the Space