Lamkichuha Municipality hosted a sensitization workshop on Co-Design of Public Open Spaces under the cities4women project, co-organized by UN-Habitat Nepal and local partner, Sundar Nepal Sanstha, with support from EU and USAID. The event focused on designing inclusive and climate-resilient public spaces. The first event, municipal level sensitization on participatory planning for inclusive and climate resilient public spaces through Co-Design was organized targeting the municipal stakeholders on 20 November 2024. The event brought together 60+ stakeholders including local leaders, experts, and community members to discuss participatory planning for developing inclusive, climate-resilient public spaces.
The Deputy Mayor Juna Chaudhary underscored the importance of community collaboration, stating, "This project ensures that every member of our community has a voice in shaping our town’s future”. Chief Administrative Officer Sushma Mahata KC added, "These workshops are a turning point for our municipality. By focusing on inclusion and sustainability, we’re creating spaces that everyone can enjoy." Both the Deputy Mayor, and Chief Administrative Officer emphasized the importance of community collaboration in creating sustainable urban spaces.
During the program, Climate Change Adaptation expert highlighted the role of public open spaces in improving urban health and livability and shared strategies for planning cities that are safer, more inclusive, and better equipped to handle climate risks. A key highlight was the mapping of existing open spaces in the municipality through participatory approach and its prioritization through community engagement based on different criteria like hazard, risk, land ownership, zoning regulations, conflict, accessibility, proximity, etc. for final selection and co-designing for its demonstration. The C4W project team further emphasized the importance of Co-Design and its participatory approaches to foster inclusivity and climate resilience to increase ownership and accountability towards the design and implementation of the project.
The second and third event was on November 21 and 22 in Wards 3 and 5 of Lamkichuha Municipality, engaging over 30 participants in each workshop, including elected officials, local leaders, senior citizens, women’s groups, youth, PWDs, and students. The workshop took place at the Narmada Swasthya Kendra (ward number 5) and Byawasthit Nagar (ward number 3) respectively to reimagine the space through community-driven planning. The participants were oriented on the co-design procedure and inclusive design by the project team along with short orientation on Climate Resilient Urban Design by Climate Change Adaptation expert.
The aim of the workshop was to bring these diverse stakeholders and their voices into a collaborative design experience by putting their ideas, developing innovative and context- specific solutions, and collectively prioritize these solutions in design process ensuring inclusivity and design meet their needs in public open space. The two different groups in each workshop through the participatory approach and playful means collectively design the mapped public space in the provided boundary map of the particular space. The designs developed during these workshops will be refined and integrated into the municipality's development plans. Participants shared that the workshop was a new and exciting experience, with many expressing happiness at being part of the design process for their own public space.