The well-being of parents with young children is a key contributor to urban resilience and community quality of life. Underlying the initiative is the recognition that parental well-being is not simply a private family matter, but a clear municipal concern—and one that falls within the responsibility of local government. When parents are supported in navigating the challenges of raising young children in an urban environment, the benefits extend beyond individual families, strengthening community resilience and enhancing quality of life across the city.
Despite broad recognition of the importance of parental well-being, it became clear that there was no shared understanding of what the concept actually encompasses. Nor was there a common municipal approach or a set of established practices for addressing this challenge. To elevate the issue on both the municipal and national agenda while fostering broad-based learning, the municipality chose to develop the initiative in partnership with other local authorities from the outset. This approach enabled municipal staff at all levels—from deputy directors-general to frontline managers—to learn alongside peers from across the country, deepen their theoretical and practical understanding before moving into implementation, and validate their assumptions and challenges through cross-municipal exchange.
The methodology developed through this initiative offers a structured approach that can be applied to a wide range of urban challenges. It is built around three stages: identifying an urban challenge, engaging in broad-based collaborative learning, and translating that learning into practical solutions. The model enables teams across the organization to address complex challenges by connecting field experience with professional expertise. In this case, it was implemented as a two-day process:
Day 1 – Professional Conference: A large-scale learning event featuring expert lectures and theoretical sessions. The conference aimed to build a strong shared knowledge base and engage a broad range of municipal departments and leadership levels. It established the conceptual foundation and professional rationale for addressing parental well-being.
Day 2 – Hands-On Workshop: A smaller working session for municipal teams focused on translating theory into practice. Participants applied the principles of Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) to develop creative solutions by working within existing constraints and drawing on available resources. Teams explored the assets already present in their municipalities and used them as the basis for designing initial ideas for responses tailored to their local urban challenges.
As a direct outcome of the conference and workshop, a professional handbook was produced, bringing together the knowledge and insights generated throughout the process. The handbook serves as both a conceptual foundation and a knowledge resource for municipal departments, supporting deeper engagement with the topic and the translation of professional principles into practice across a wide range of municipal services and urban settings.
Municipal Partners:
Community, Culture and Sports Administration
Policy leaders and implementation staff from municipal departments across the city (including Education, Welfare, and Planning)
