Future Playgrounds

In the mountain regions of Nepal, children today have to find their fun primarily in plastic playgrounds of Chinese mass production. These solutions may be inexpensive, but in many respects they are not very sustainable. We want to change that. 


The problem: There are probably few places that we associate so much with a modest life in the rhythm of nature as the remote regions of the Himalayas. But even there - for example in the Nepalese region of Pokhara - the spirit of materialism has taken hold. More and more often, brightly coloured plastic products are being used, even for children's playgrounds.


The big problem: even though Nepalese culture has developed in harmony with nature for thousands of years, there is often a lack of awareness of sustainability and the necessary know-how, especially among today's generation. As a result, questionable purchasing and consumption decisions are increasingly being made here, which are not only aesthetically detached from the Nepalese natural landscape.


With our project Future Playgrounds, we want to take up old Nepalese traditions and implement them in a contemporary way.


Background: The so-called lingeping, a swing that is traditionally erected on the occasion of the dashain festival - probably the most important bank holidays in Nepal - is made exclusively of bamboo and hemp ropes. Once a year, it is set up on the mountainside in every village, giving the swingers the opportunity to let go of their earthly existence for a moment. However, due to the lack of interest of the newer generations and too little space in the cities, traditions seem to have been forgotten in recent years.
Instead, you see colourful plastic everywhere. 

Play! Together with the village communities, with schools, kindergartens and parents, we want to build new playgrounds from October 2022 in the spirit of this tradition - using local and sustainable building materials. In this way, we want to remind people of the importance of play and their traditions. At the same time, we give them the means and the necessary know-how to build sustainably themselves in the future. In doing so, we involve the community in the process and the underlying ideas, thus creating awareness for sustainable solutions. 
The Future playground wants to break away from the rigid idea of a children's playground and redefine the playground as such: It can and may be anything the village community needs-a new place to be, a meeting place, a playground for adults, a stage, a new cultural venue for the community. In this way, we also want to make the opening of the new playground a cultural event for the village.