The IFRC Park project is based on a participatory process involving staff, neighbours and the public administration. A series of events has been developed for the participatory process, starting in August 2022 and going all the way to February 2023.
urbz conducted these events to solicit reflection and feedback from the IFRC employees and the local residents about the new park project and their association with the site and the neighborhood. So far, more than 60 interviews have been conducted with several IFRC staff members, neighbors, collectives and associations. The process included critical and open conversations with people sharing their opinions, ideas and aspirations. The urbz team has also spent time on site observing and interacting with users focussing on their existing uses of the shared spaces and their expectations for the community park.
The participatory process began with a kickoff workshop with the Petit-Saconnex residents’ association, the neighborhood in Geneva in which the headquarter of IFRC is located. This workshop was attended by twenty-one members of the association and served as an opportunity to explain the project and its intentions and have discussions on what is to be kept and what could be improved. The Kickoff workshop was followed by six months of workshops with multiple focus areas such as : Environment, Community, and Security.