Promoting youth involvement in public open space development

It was a grueling condition that kids in SRA developed RR Colony in Gautam Nagar , Govandi had no space for playing. The open spaces were so abused due to waste dumping and littering, that children couldn’t come down and play. Residents use to throw dry and wet waste directly in to passages and open ground.

MESN organized a cricket match in Colony campus to show the importance of open spaces which can be utilized for play, if not abused. The event brought lot of enthusiasm in youth. Along with zeal to win we wanted them to realize the availability of space for them. Seeing children utilizing open space also made residents realize not to throw waste over there. Throwing waste in open spaces may hit some kid or will just pollute their space of playing. Such events helped to set good relationship between people and their surrounding space.

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Reviving an abused open space by engaging the children of the community

All the filth around S.R.A developed RR Colony Gautam nagar, Govandi were result of lack of Public interest in their surroundings. Any open space around 16 buildings in the colony were suffering abuse and negligence.It was necessary to bring attention of residents towards their locality. We felt kids could be the best agents for change. If we could inspire children to take care of their campus, it will translate some sense to adults also. We hosted painting competition for kids, and asked them to display their creativity on compound and building walls. The theme was cleanliness, colors were provided free, and format was competition to encourage good efforts. We saw lot of enthusiasm among kids and their parents especially mothers’ .The event was so successful that residents demanded one more day at another location .They were delighted to see their work around, surroundings became colorful and strong message was delivered.

Mumbai Environmental Social Network

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