Urban Living Lab · Belgium
Brussels
Local hubs for child-friendly streets
The Brussels Urban Living Lab brings together weekend and regular schooling networks for children aged 10–14 from underrepresented groups and car-dependent communities. Participating schools have confirmed their interest across the city region.
The lab focuses on understanding children’s activities in the school neighbourhood and co-creating ideas and activities to make the area more child-friendly. Schools serve as local activity hubs that promote proximity—exploring children and young people’s mobilities and activities beyond the school commute and involving caregivers and other stakeholders in the co-creation process.
5+1
Primary & secondary schools
Weekend
School network included
Hubs
Schools as local activity hubs
Co-design
Caregivers & stakeholders
What this lab does
Schools as neighbourhood hubs
Activities anchor in familiar school settings while linking to the streets and spaces around them—so daily routes and gathering places become visible topics for discussion and design.
Co-creation with children & adults
Children work alongside caregivers, educators, and local actors to shape ideas that reflect real routines—building shared ownership of what “child-friendly” means in each context.
Beyond the school run
The lab deliberately looks at mobility and activity outside commuting-only framing—making room for play, errands, social life, and how car-dependent contexts shape children’s independence.
Participating schools
Schools that have confirmed interest to participate include:
Lead & cooperation partners
Urban Living Lab lead
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
The Brussels Urban Living Lab is led by VUB (Mobilise), bringing together regional mobility, planning, municipalities, schools, and NGOs as cooperation partners.
Brussels Mobility — Regional Mobility Administration
perspective.brussels — Regional Planning Agency
Schaerbeek municipality
Heroes for Zero — traffic safety NGO
TADA — weekendschool NGO
Vzw Onderwijs Brussel Brede school
GO! Scholengroep Brussel
Les Chercheurs d’Air — clean air & school streets
GO! Basisschool De Kleurdoos
De Mozaïek