This Wednesday, May 15, 20 minutes gets down to children’s level with #20Minus. The editorial team has produced articles, interviews and videos that children and parents can read or watch together or separately. Obviously, we will address topics related to education, pocket money but also articles where we wonder about the city for children, other kids friendly for going out, eating or sleeping .
She marked the start of her mandate with a strong gesture. By attending her first municipal council with her 5-week-old baby in her arms, Lucile Koch sent a message: she would not let her schedule as an elected official take away her life as a mother. Four years later, her little Léonie has grown up a lot. And its “child-sized city” delegation too. Created in 2020 after the merger of the list of Nathalie Appéré (PS) and environmentalists, this position aimed to take into account the opinions of children in the development of the city. Vast construction site. On the occasion of its #20Minus series, 20 minutes sought to find out what had changed in Rennes since the start of the mandate. “A lot of things and a little at the same time,” warns the elected official.
The meeting with Lucile Koch took place in the wake of the presentation of a new inclusive playground still under construction in the Landry park. This achievement is the first applying a new framework established to best accommodate all children. Here, young ones can climb, hide, land, slide and explore. The turnstile or the slide have remained but they are no longer alone. Around it, the city has created rocks, wooded areas and games awakening all the senses, from smell to touch. “It’s the most visible part of our work. Because it is in these areas that we give children their place in our city. This is their place, their playground. But it’s not just that,” recalls the elected environmentalist.
“We should collect more of their words”
The one who spent part of her childhood in Sweden had the ambition to make more room for little ones, to hear them more in the construction of cities. “That’s one of my regrets. What consultation with children is carried out when we launch public projects? Not enough, probably. We should collect more of their words, their opinions. But it’s not simple, because our services already have strong constraints,” says Lucile Koch. However, his city has shined several times for its attentiveness, notably when it banned car traffic in front of the Gantelles school in 2022. “It was a 9-year-old child who approached us,” remembers mayor Nathalie Appéré.
The child in question is called Anatole and 20 minutes had met him. “I come to school by bike and my parents are always afraid that I will be run over,” he explained. The city then created a “school street” banning cars at entry and exit times. A project which has since expanded to other school groups. “When we adapt our city to our children or our elders, it benefits everyone,” recalls the mayor.
Rennes students were also more involved in the choice of the name of the new schools, choosing to highlight Toni Morrison or Miriam Makeba. “It’s not easy to see how the city is perceived when you’re 80 centimeters or 1.10 meters tall. We realize that at this age, living space is very limited and that it is often reduced to a building, a square or a street. This is where we realize the importance of local public spaces. We also understand that the city center can seem very far away,” continues Nathalie Appéré. It is also to widen the playground for younger children that the metropolis had chosen to offer free public transport to all children under 12 years old.
Projects by and for little ones
Mother of two grown children, Barbara says she has not seen any radical change in the city in several years. But according to her, it is also because Rennes has always thought of its children, even before the arrival of an elected official dedicated to the subject. “When we look at the cultural offerings or the festivals, there is always something for the youngest. » La Rennaise speaks the truth.
Our special report #20Minus
It is with this desire that the Breton capital opened a first participatory budget dedicated to children in order to let them bring forward their ideas and vote. The result ? A project of double zip line which will see the light of day as well as a shelter for animals. But no Pokémon statue or mini-fairground as some had suggested. Children also have their decision-making power.