Hi there! 

More incredible late autumn weather in Sweden, and my arrival in Stockholm coincided with Play Aus Board member Kylie Brannelly being in the city for a conference, so yes, before I talk work, we went to the Abba museum!! So much playful fun!!!

Sweden's system is a little bit more complicated than what we have in Australia, with their provinces undertaking a lot of actions at a local level and no national government oversight of things like health and education.  Sweden incorporated the UNCRC into the Swedish legislation (The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Act (2018:1197)) on 1st of January 2020.  Incorporation of the CRC gives it the status of Swedish law.  So, I was really interested to see what's happening as a result!!  Meeting with UNICEF and other play advocates has been illuminating. One of the challenges of the UNCRC going into the Constitution was that it was not accompanied with an implementation plan. As a result, government departments often stumble and wonder how to actually implement the UNCRC in its practice.  Sweden has not had a great reputation at UN level with child rights. The latest UNCRC country report identified 233 recommendations for improvement (compared to Australia having 131). Of those 14 were listed in the black zone, as in, they were actually going backwards in children's rights!  I queried if this meant the UNCRC being made into law had no impact, and was assured by my contacts that it would be worse if UNCRC was not embedded in their Constitution, as it did hold people to account, and the media has been very good at supporting that. This has been a lesson to me, getting policy change is great, but unless we also have a rigorous and funded implementation plan to accompany it, and a committed and engaged bipartisan support, the impact can be lost.

Also had the opportunity during my visit to attend 2 of the city’s staffed play spaces known as “Parkleks” and provided by Local Government since 1937. These are amazing outdoor environments, free to the public.  and attract a wide range of people from across the community. It was great to see the intergenerational engagement in the space and the level of activity was very high!  These are the Swedish version of Adventure Playgrounds; however, they are based in the middle of general parks. They have no fences, so literally can be accessed at any time, although staff and access to some buildings and equipment is only available during operating hours 9-5 weekdays and Saturdays 10-3. In the 1990’s I was told by staff there were around 200 Parkleks, now due to funding cuts there were about 25-30.  This shrinking access to play opportunities seems to be a worldwide phenomenon!!

Next stop, regional Sweden to visit a local government doing amazing things in play space maintenance and design…

Yours Playfully 

Robyn x