Switzerland, Kriens: Creating a leisure facility together with children, adolescents and adults

Participation is the key aspect regarding the playground Langmatt. Whether it was during the planning, construction or now in its operation: children, adolescents, parents and neighbourhood residents are always involved.

When thinking about planning a new leisure facilty, the City of Kriens decided from the beginning that the planning and implantation
of the park shall be developed and carried out in a participatory process with all relevant interest groups and most importantly
children, adolescents and parents. Through the active involvement of children and adolescents throughout all stages and beyond
implementation, they developed a strong identification and sense of ownership with and over the park. Therefore, the park is very
popular, often used, looked after and handled with care, which considerably simplifies the parks' maintenance. The projects'
success is based on a clear mandate from the city council for a participatory planning and implementation process, a fast
implementation, which, in a child-friendly manner allowed children and other involved people to see results within a short time-frame
and the involvement of the community association, which places an important role in the maintenance of the park.
Additional, the City of Kries used the opportunity of the creation of the leisure facility to introduce a professional safety management
system for playgrounds. Since the park's opening, specialists are inspecting and monitoring all publicly accessible playgrounds and
facilities regularly and and systematically.

UNICEF,Child Friendly Cities Initative,Kriens,