Munambam Muziris

Beach

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K O C H I , I N D I A

STREET, MARKET AND OPEN PUBLIC SPACES IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS

Promoting environment-friendly livable cities in India. The health of the Indian population is greatly affected by the state of its cities.  As India tries to tackle major problems such as climate change, non-communicable diseases, road safey, water pollution, noise pollution and air pollution, ensuring cities are livable is critically important. 

Promoting environment-friendly livable cities in India. We want happy and healthy children and families in every neighborhood who have safe streets, free access to parks, playgrounds, open space and fun places to play around.

Munambam Muziris Beach

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Munambam Muziris Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches on Vypin Island. It is the focal point of the Periyar River and the Arabian Sea and is one of the most beautiful places to enjoy the sunset in the region. The beach has also been gifted with natural green spaces that provide shade for resting and places for children to play. However, the beach has received much less attention from the authorities than the busier Cherai Beach located three kilometres away.  And, local residents who are living with disabilities were unable to use the space because there were no facilities that would allow them to access the beach. Through ESAF’s advocacy and expertise in redesigning public spaces as inclusive play spaces, the Munambam Muziris Beach project worked towards making the beach more functional and inclusive for all people irrespective of their gender, age and ability so that they all could enjoy the beach as they would any other public space.  We wanted to develop a barrier-free model beach that could be replicated elsewhere and that would promote beach tourism and promote more livelihood opportunities for the local community.  In addition, we wanted to promote and encourage the use of accessible and barrier-free designs in the development of public spaces throughout Kerala.

The beach did not have any infrastructure that would permit people living with disabilities and using mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, to access the beach. So, we focused on adding a much needed ramp to the beach, which can be used by anyone with or without a mobility device. The project followed a participatory approach by involving local residents in the initiative from the beginning.

BEFORE INTERVENTION

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Community engagement, capacity building and infrastructure change strategies were used to achieve our objectives.  Activities included: ·1 Minecraft workshop with 42 members of the community participating including 12 children, 13 women, 4 men, and 2 people living with disabilities. In addition, 8 elected officials attended, which provided a great opportunity to model a community engagement approach.  At the Minecraft workshop the residents used the program to develop the designs for the entire beach, which included improvements to the playground, creation of a sports area, and improvements for people living with disabilities.

The project followed a participatory approach by involving local residents from the beginning. 

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12 meetings with approximately 234 participants including children, children living with disabilities, adults, and the elderly.  The purpose of many of these meetings was to create an understanding among the community about the importance of public space, the need for beaches to be inclusive for people living with disabilities and the overall project. In total we made 5 improvements and organized four events for the community to participate in the changes to the park including a beach cleanup day, a Beach for All celebration, and a World Disability Day celebration with 219 participants total. Volunteers contributed 1564 hours of time to the project.   Minecraft was used to design beach improvements.  Engagement and great design ideas happened at the Minecraft Workshop.  

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1 barrier-free ramp built3 graffiti walls painted11 trash bins added1 entry way made barrier-free1 barrier-free toilet built   

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We inaugurated the beach with 86 participants including local residents, people living with disabilities elected officials, government officials, and the media.

I n f r a s t r u c t u r e C h a n g e s  

Infrastructure Changes 

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1 SENSORY WALL

1 SAFE SWING 1 PLATFORM SWING

2 SAND PITS 1 MULTI-PLAYHOUSE

1 RAMP

1 RAMP (SIDE VIEW) 1 GATE (BAR REMOVED)

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1 SENSORY WALL

1 SAFE SWING 1 PLATFORM SWING

2 SAND PITS 1 MULTI-PLAYHOUSE

11 TRASH BINS

1 BARRIER-FREE TOILET 3 GRAFFITI WALLS

# of people total# of children with disabilities# of children under age 8# of youth (9 to 18) #adults with disabilities# of elderly

Our ResultsAs a result of adding the barrier-free ramp, we have now created accessibility to the beach for those living with disabilities. Many people have started using the space in the night for the first time. In addition,this space was never visited by tourists though it was very close to other beaches in the stretch. After the inauguration, many tourists have started visiting this beach as well. It has also been reported that business activities have increased after the inauguration, which indirectly improved the livelihood of the community. The community, especially youth, have started taking initiatives to develop amenities in the beach to make it suitable for sports. The youth

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in the community mobilized $2000 CAD (100, 000 INR) to level the area and develop a play space for themselves. In addition, our project is going to have a much larger impact on accessibility in the District. KSIE, the contracting agency for developing three more beaches in the District, has agreed to change the designs in those three beaches to make them barrier-free. The budget allocated for these three beaches is $85,000 CAD (4.4 Million INR). Barrier-free walkways and toilets will be added to the existing plans for beach development, which is an important contribution to accessibility. Users of space

per dayBefore

InterventionAfter

Intervention

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