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Parenting services map receives Kids Design Award

2021.09.13
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A services map created by the Faculty of Design of Kyushu University and Fukutsu City to guide guardians raising children for the first time has been recognized with a Kids Design Award 2021.

The “Fukutsu City Kodomo-no-Kuni Parenting Services Map” is the result of a joint research project on public service design between the Faculty of Design and Fukutsu City. Together with the city’s Support Center for the Families with Small Children, the project team focused on parenting support and developed the map through co-design between citizens and city officials using design methods.

New parents to be often find themselves overwhelmed with questions about their first pregnancy and parenting. Many public services related to children and parenting are available, but information can be difficult to find and navigate. Therefore, Kyushu University, Aalto University (Finland), and Fukutsu City collaborated with citizens to design a user-friendly services map.

In the development process, participatory design workshops were conducted to solve the issues of both users of childcare support and city officials who provide the services and to gather information from various stakeholders. The uniqueness of this services map lies in the fact that it was designed as a guide map addressing concerns of the guardians and stakeholders involved, rather than clinging to ideas of ideal parenting. The design reflects the voices of the stakeholders, such as “parenting journeys to find services by the age of the child,” “graphics that do not depict typical family images,” “detailed examples of trivial consultations,” and “name stickers that show the face of the professionals in charge.”

This services map, which lists a wide range of parenting support services according to the stage of a child’s development, was launched in January 2021. Approximately 10,000 copies are to be distributed free of charge annually.

For more information, please visit the KID NEXT website.

Fukutsu City Kodomo-no-Kuni Parenting Services Map

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