Scotland' Housing Expo

CHILD’S PLAY – OR IS IT?

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The idea of fenced, sterile, primary coloured play ghettoes as an  answer to children’s need and right to play has been fairly well discredited.  What is now required is a little more thought to the basics of children’s needs and their right to be  allowed to reconnect with and enjoy their whole environment. Using his experiences of many years engagement in children’s play across Europe, Harry Harbottle will outline his view on the main issues to focus on when designing places where children will live. Along the way he will illustrate different ways to address the balance between play value and safety.

Harry has experience of working at a high level in statutory, voluntary and private sectors so he is well placed to understand the benefits and risks of working in all three when it comes to generating quality public places. For 20 years he was appointed as an expert to the European Commission in consumer safety and child safety. He is also a contributor to the guide to the European Standard for the Safety of Playground Equipment, now published in 6 languages. He is currently on a European Standards Organisation (CEN) working group looking at playground safety in relation to children with special needs.

He is currently a board member of Play Scotland.