"It's time to make space for girls" - Susannah Walker, Co-founder of Make Space for Girls

Stand Tall with Rachel Bell

On International Women’s Day, I am delighted to launch Season 3 of Stand Tall with my first guest Susannah Walker.
In 2021, Susannah - along with Imogen Clark - co-founded Make Space for Girls, a charity that campaigns for better public spaces for teenage girls.
Research shows that girls and young women are overwhelmingly excluded from public spaces. Parks and multi-use game areas are often planned and designed for stereotypical boys. Think skateparks, BMX tracks and football pitches. As a result, parks are dominated by boys, and girls are left feeling unwelcome, insecure, and often unsafe.
Susannah and her colleagues are on a mission to turn this around. Through research and engagement, Make Space for Girls is working to ensure the voices of girls and young women are heard in the planning process.
In this episode, I ask: what does better look like? Is there a one-size-fits all solution? And, how can councils, developers and design professionals embrace change so that public spaces are more inclusive, not just for girls but for everyone.
Resources

• Make Space for Girls: https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk/
• LSE Cities: Are girls being designed out of public spaces?
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGY0arU-U2U
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez (book) https://carolinecriadoperez.com/book/invisible-women/
• What does better look like? https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk/what-does-better-look-like
• Brickfields Park, Bath: Report on Engagement
  https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk/resources/report-on-brickfields-park-bath
• Good practice case study: Vienna
  https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk/case-studies/vienna
• Good practice case study: Umeå
  https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk/case-studies/umea
• Sport England, Active Design Guidance 2023 [Draft] – “It’s basically guidance for creating what Caroline Criado Perez would call a ‘default male landscape’.” – Susannah Walker
  https://www.sportengland.org/guidance-and-support/facilities-and-planning/design-and-cost-guidance/active-design
• Equality Act 2010 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
• Parkwatch with Make Space for Girls is happening 27-29th May 2023. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram for regular updates.

Twitter @MakeSpaceforGi1
Instagram @make_space_for_girls
LinkedIn susannah-walker-9b22603b

About Stand Tall
Stand Tall with Rachel Bell is conversations about life, careers, and defining moments with people blazing a trail across property, architecture, engineering and construction.
The podcast is brought to you by Stride Treglown - an employee-owned AJ100 architectural practice and a Certified B Corporation.

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