Liangjiang community encourages children to participate in governance

Children of the Taihu West Road Community in Liangjiang New Area paint a picture based on the phrase "The Community in My Heart" as part of efforts to engage in community governance. [Photo/Taihu West Road Community]

The Taihu West Road Community in Liangjiang New Area recently launched the second session of the "Little Community Planner" campaign to enhance children's proactive participation in community spaces and services.

Around 20 children from the community, aged 7 to 12, participated in the activity. They painted pictures themed on the phrase "The Community in My Heart", drawing inspiration from daily community life and depicting visionary scenes on their panels, including a table tennis table, a badminton court, a playground slide, and a farm.

After completing their paintings, the children explained the highlights of their artworks and shared the narratives embedded in their drawings.

The children also engaged in group discussions on "What would I propose?" based on the differences between the current community and their paintings. They made eight proposals, including making community slogans more understandable for kids, offering children's meal sets at the neighborhood canteen, and providing free children's swings.

Some of the suggestions have already been implemented, such as a space for singing and playing the piano, a swimming pool, and a public service center where children can read for free. The remaining suggestions will be carefully considered by the community council, noted Chen Xue, the community's Party secretary.

Chen added that the activity aims to help young children better understand their community. By understanding community spaces and functions, they can exercise innovative thinking and improve their hands-on abilities through simple space designs.

"Through these proposals, we are surprised at how detailed and comprehensive the children's daily observations are", Chen said, adding that it is important to encourage even young children to contribute to community self-governance.

"We will take tailored measures to address the concerns raised by the children and continuously improve diverse public participation in our community," Chen said.

Children of the Taihu West Road Community in Liangjiang New Area paint their communities using imaginations. [Photo/Taihu West Road Community]