Publica and representatives from CHANGE recently immersed themselves in the fantastic city of Louisville, Kentucky, to deliver a week of engaging workshops, training, neighbourhood walks and site visits with the local community, working alongside the Louisville Metro Government Office for Women (OFW). 

This represents the first phase of Publica and CHANGE’s collaborative project, “Gender Based Violence in Public Space: Developing an Evidence-Base and Action Plan with Three Cities” which explores how design in the built environment can make cities safer, more usable and more welcoming to women, girls, gender diverse people and caregivers. In the coming months we will be exploring the same topic in two other cities globally; Bogota and Stockholm.

Following the visit, Publica has set to work creating a report for Louisville Metro Government detailing actionable steps to incorporate gender equity in planning, and the opportunities in Louisville to support this.  

Publica and representatives from CHANGE recently immersed themselves in the fantastic city of Louisville, Kentucky, to deliver a week of engaging workshops, training, neighbourhood walks and site visits with the local community, working alongside the Louisville Metro Government Office for Women (OFW). 

This represents the first phase of Publica and CHANGE’s collaborative project, “Gender Based Violence in Public Space: Developing an Evidence-Base and Action Plan with Three Cities” which explores how design in the built environment can make cities safer, more usable and more welcoming to women, girls, gender diverse people and caregivers. In the coming months we will be exploring the same topic in two other cities globally; Bogota and Stockholm.

Our first workshop during our Louisville trip was a training for built environment professionals. During this session we questioned how to redefine safety, drawing on strategies Publica have implemented across London and Manchester to engage with the local communities’ needs. The diverse group of attendees explored different lenses of safety and implementable approaches to fostering change, highlighting the collective responsibility for creating a city that is safer and more welcoming for all.  

The team also led an interactive workshop on making inclusive, joyful public parks with a brilliant group of teen girls. Together, they discussed their lived experiences as teenagers in Louisville, and their hopes for what their city could look and feel like in the future. They each made a fantastically bright and energetic mood board of a park they would want to use. It was incredibly valuable to understand the girls’ perception of their city and empower them to be an active participant to positive change. Eight of the participants have registered their interest in joining a community board for the re-development of their local park in the coming months – a great outcome.

Publica also led two “street-tagging” exercises, focused on understanding women’s perceptions of safety and inclusion in public spaces, and how innovative design can increase a sense of security.  One walk was delivered with Play Cousins Collective, a non-profit organisation that envisions a world where Black children are free to live, play, and prosper, alongside the community organisation, Russell a Place of Promise.  

Following the visit, Publica has set to work creating a report for Louisville Metro Government detailing actionable steps to incorporate gender equity in planning, and the opportunities in Louisville to support this.