DiverCity

Cities have historically been planned without fully considering the needs and desires of women. As a result, women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by the challenges of today’s social, urban, and environmental crises.

DiverCity is a project dedicated to fostering the active participation of young women and girls from diverse backgrounds in urban planning. By integrating a gender perspective into urban planning and participatory methodologies, we aim to redesign cities that reflect the diverse realities of their inhabitants. Our approach prioritizes safety, accessibility, and comfort, ensuring that urban spaces serve everyone.

What we have achieved 

Through engaging and playful participatory planning tools, we have actively involved young people in shaping their cities. Our key achievements include:

• Building a network of organizations and individuals focusing on youth, gender perspectives, participation, and urban development.
• Exploring and learning from inspiring urban practices across different European contexts.
• Developing a shared ToolBox of knowledge, experiences, and participatory methodologies.
• Conducting mutual training for organizations across Europe to enhance local impact.
• Implementing participatory urban planning activities in Athens, Erfurt, Sabadell, and Brussels.
• Empowering young women and girls by providing them with a “safe and brave space” to express their needs and desires.
• Creating an online GuideBook that documents the participatory tools and methodologies developed throughout the project.
• Hosting a Multiplier Event in Athens (Romantso, 27/6/2024) to share our findings and amplify our impact.

DiverCity in Pangrati (Athens)

After researching best practices, exchanging ideas, and designing new participatory tools, we implemented targeted interventions in Athens, focusing on the needs of young women in the neighborhood of Pangrati. Our actions included:

• Organizing participatory neighborhood workshops (February - May 2024) with young women living and/or working in Pangrati.
• Conducting exploratory walks to share experiences and propose tangible changes for the neighborhood.
• Using participatory budgeting to co-design the PagratiFem Project, a community lead mini-festival held in “Mesologiou Square” (1/6/2024), where local women discussed the challenges they face in their daily lives.
• Raising awareness about gender-sensitive urban planning, encouraging women to actively participate in decision-making processes to create more inclusive neighborhoods.

Watch the PagratiFem Project in action in this video.

Public event in Athens

The DiverCity project culminated in a vibrant public event in Athens, where we showcased the insights, experiences, and results from the 4 participating European cities. The event served as a platform to highlight the key findings of our project and the impact of integrating gender perspectives into city planning.

Bringing together a diverse audience -including local stakeholders and organisations, urban planners, academics, community members, representatives of the Municipality of Athens and policymakers- the event fostered dialogue on inclusive urban development and the future of participatory planning. The event was held under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens, reinforcing the importance of institutional support in creating safer, more accessible, and gender-inclusive urban spaces.

All tools, activities, and outcomes from DiverCity have been compiled into a comprehensive Guidebook, available here.

Join us in rethinking and reshaping our cities! One inclusive step at a time!