Publica DIRECTOR DR ELLIE COSGRAVE PRESENTS AT THE CITIES CHANGE ANNUAL SUMMIT FOR LEARNING AND INNOVATION FOR GENDER EQUITY, BARCELONA
June 2024
“More than one in three women worldwide has experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. That statistic increases when accounting for individuals with non-binary gender identities. This alarming reality demands our collective action.”
From City Hub and Network for Gender Equity website
Dr Ellie Cosgrave, Publica’s Director of Research and Community Interest Company delivered a pivotal presentation at the Cities Change Annual Summit for Learning and Innovation for Gender Equity this June in Barcelona. At the summit, Ellie shared Publica’s best practice from London and Manchester, focusing on our CIC’s campaign for women, girls and gender diverse people’s safety in public spaces.
Hosted by the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity (CHANGE), representatives from their cities network, which includes Barcelona, Bogatá, Buenos Aires, Freetown, Los Angeles, London, Louisville, Melbourne, Mexico City, Nairobi, Quezon City, Stockholm and Tokyo, gathered to engage in pioneering sessions on innovations in feminist city policy and practice of care. This three-day meeting marked CHANGE’s first in-person summit since 2022, providing a platform to share experiences and discuss policies, strategies and practices to transform cities into fairer, more sustainable, inclusive and efficient spaces.
During the summit, Ellie led an interactive walk to PLURAL, Centre for Masculinities, a municipality facility aimed at promoting more open, respectful, and healthy relationship models for men. Participants engaged in a street-tagging exercise, photographing elements of the public space that made them feel safe or unsafe, and indicated their feelings moving through that area by holding up a green or red card. Ellie’s walk prompted participants to consider safety in public space as more than just the freedom from violence, harassment and intimidation. Discussions highlighted how the spatial dynamics of a street can affect the feeling of safety and emphasised the importance of a sense of belonging and the ability for everyone to freely use the public space.
Ellie also delivered a session on Gender-Based Violence, focusing on safety and inclusion, alongside UCL Masters students Anna du Plessis and Beverley Genockey. During this session, participants shared three photos taken during the street tagging exercise in small groups, explaining why they had felt safe or unsafe in each instance. This exercise allowed participants to reflect on the ways in which experiences of safety differ amongst various demographics, demonstrating that there is no one “safe space”.
Afterwards, Ellie presented some of Publica CIC’s conceptual frameworks for understanding safety and inclusion in public spaces. She highlighted four case studies showcasing different approaches used to create safer spaces for women and gender-diverse populations in the UK. These included a street-tagging session in North London, co-clienting with a group of young women in Olympic Park, co-designed street art in Croydon, and joyful initiatives enabling active travel and active lives for women and girls in Trafford, Manchester.
The Gender-Based Violence session stressed the need for inclusive public spaces and the involvement of diverse groups in city design processes. It underscored how understanding safety extends beyond just the absence of physical violence and how urban interventions can significantly influence people’s perceptions of safety.
Participants also explored Barcelona’s leading equality initiatives with visits to municipal services such as the Assistance, Recovery and Shelter Service (SARA), the specialised service for addressing gender-based violence; Barcelona Cuida, a pioneering service that brings together all the city’s existing care resources; LIDERA by Barcelona Activa, which promotes training for the inclusion of women in the business world, and the Sant Antoni Super Block, an urban planning mechanism that aims to prioritise people over cars, with a focus on accessibility.
Founded in 2020 by directors Leslie Crosdale and Holly Milburn-Smith, the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity is the world’s first international city network dedicated exclusively to the pursuit of gender equity and good practices for combating sexism, misogyny and injustice for reasons of gender, as well as defending women's rights. After more than four years of work, the network continues to promote innovative perspectives that break down gender-equality barriers while also ensuring that this issue continues to be a focus for cities all over the world.
Dr Ellie Cosgrave and Publica were honoured to contribute to such an important and innovative event. Publica CIC is dedicated to radical, inclusive and collaborative design processes to make cities places where all people can participate freely and fully in urban life.
News ⋅ June 2024
See more
Publica DIRECTOR DR ELLIE COSGRAVE PRESENTS AT THE CITIES CHANGE ANNUAL SUMMIT FOR LEARNING AND INNOVATION FOR GENDER EQUITY, BARCELONA
June 2024
“More than one in three women worldwide has experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. That statistic increases when accounting for individuals with non-binary gender identities. This alarming reality demands our collective action.”
From City Hub and Network for Gender Equity website
Dr Ellie Cosgrave, Publica’s Director of Research and Community Interest Company delivered a pivotal presentation at the Cities Change Annual Summit for Learning and Innovation for Gender Equity this June in Barcelona. At the summit, Ellie shared Publica’s best practice from London and Manchester, focusing on our CIC’s campaign for women, girls and gender diverse people’s safety in public spaces.
Hosted by the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity (CHANGE), representatives from their cities network, which includes Barcelona, Bogatá, Buenos Aires, Freetown, Los Angeles, London, Louisville, Melbourne, Mexico City, Nairobi, Quezon City, Stockholm and Tokyo, gathered to engage in pioneering sessions on innovations in feminist city policy and practice of care. This three-day meeting marked CHANGE’s first in-person summit since 2022, providing a platform to share experiences and discuss policies, strategies and practices to transform cities into fairer, more sustainable, inclusive and efficient spaces.
During the summit, Ellie led an interactive walk to PLURAL, Centre for Masculinities, a municipality facility aimed at promoting more open, respectful, and healthy relationship models for men. Participants engaged in a street-tagging exercise, photographing elements of the public space that made them feel safe or unsafe, and indicated their feelings moving through that area by holding up a green or red card. Ellie’s walk prompted participants to consider safety in public space as more than just the freedom from violence, harassment and intimidation. Discussions highlighted how the spatial dynamics of a street can affect the feeling of safety and emphasised the importance of a sense of belonging and the ability for everyone to freely use the public space.
Ellie also delivered a session on Gender-Based Violence, focusing on safety and inclusion, alongside UCL Masters students Anna du Plessis and Beverley Genockey. During this session, participants shared three photos taken during the street tagging exercise in small groups, explaining why they had felt safe or unsafe in each instance. This exercise allowed participants to reflect on the ways in which experiences of safety differ amongst various demographics, demonstrating that there is no one “safe space”.
Afterwards, Ellie presented some of Publica CIC’s conceptual frameworks for understanding safety and inclusion in public spaces. She highlighted four case studies showcasing different approaches used to create safer spaces for women and gender-diverse populations in the UK. These included a street-tagging session in North London, co-clienting with a group of young women in Olympic Park, co-designed street art in Croydon, and joyful initiatives enabling active travel and active lives for women and girls in Trafford, Manchester.
The Gender-Based Violence session stressed the need for inclusive public spaces and the involvement of diverse groups in city design processes. It underscored how understanding safety extends beyond just the absence of physical violence and how urban interventions can significantly influence people’s perceptions of safety.
Participants also explored Barcelona’s leading equality initiatives with visits to municipal services such as the Assistance, Recovery and Shelter Service (SARA), the specialised service for addressing gender-based violence; Barcelona Cuida, a pioneering service that brings together all the city’s existing care resources; LIDERA by Barcelona Activa, which promotes training for the inclusion of women in the business world, and the Sant Antoni Super Block, an urban planning mechanism that aims to prioritise people over cars, with a focus on accessibility.
Founded in 2020 by directors Leslie Crosdale and Holly Milburn-Smith, the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity is the world’s first international city network dedicated exclusively to the pursuit of gender equity and good practices for combating sexism, misogyny and injustice for reasons of gender, as well as defending women's rights. After more than four years of work, the network continues to promote innovative perspectives that break down gender-equality barriers while also ensuring that this issue continues to be a focus for cities all over the world.
Dr Ellie Cosgrave and Publica were honoured to contribute to such an important and innovative event. Publica CIC is dedicated to radical, inclusive and collaborative design processes to make cities places where all people can participate freely and fully in urban life.
News ⋅ June 2024
See more