In the current community planning, a lot of attention has been paid to the space for children's growth. How to design the community landscape so that it not only appeals to children, but also makes close contact with nature their daily life is a key focus on building a child-friendly community. In terms of exploring child-friendly communities, both Vanke and China Resources have launched their own unique design concepts and actual operations.
01
Hardware configuration: Vanke Botanical Garden VS China Resources Darwin Camp
Plants play a vital role in Vanke's community planning and design to facilitate interaction with nature, so Vanke focuses on enhancing the exploratory value of plants and creating a natural learning environment at the doorstep.
The cycle of plants changing with the seasons is a child's primary experience of getting in touch with nature. In the community, Vanke's plant allocation strategy takes into account the alternation of the four seasons, and carefully selects plants that represent the characteristics of each season, so that children can intuitively experience the magic of the four seasons in nature.
Taking No. 1 Zhongxing Road in Shanghai as an example, the community has a rich variety of plants, with more than 170 different species of plants, which can ensure that there is a view in all seasons. Children can observe the different faces of plants in the community, such as flowers blooming in Lucky Star Chinese Restaurant, lush greenery in summer, colorful leaves in autumn, and vigorous branches in winter.
On this basis, Vanke also pays attention to improving the professionalism of community botanical gardens. Since 2020, Vanke has successively reached cooperation with botanical gardens and botanical research institutions in various regions to build micro-botanical gardens in the community, and professional institutions will provide suggestions on plant selection to enhance the scientific and educational value of community botanical gardens.
At present, Vanke has reached strategic cooperation agreements with local botanical gardens in 26 cities to introduce the concept of botanical gardens into the communities of each city. Ningbo Vanke · Maritime Metropolis is the first community micro-botanical garden jointly built by Vanke and Ningbo Botanical Garden, which has a children's five-senses garden, introducing more than 50 sensory plants, and fully considering children's perspectives and interactive needs. Children can learn about plants next to these plants through specially made, child-friendly labels that guide children to explore and experience in a childlike way, reflecting Vanke's careful consideration for the construction of a child-friendly community.
In addition, in some communities, Vanke has also begun to experiment with the concept of community farms. In Chongqing's Jiangnan Vanke City, Nanfeng Farm, a community farm, opened in July this year, where owners and children can not only grow vegetables and experience farming culture, but also exchange planting ideas with their families and neighbors to enjoy the fun of nature. It can be seen that community farms play a significant role in increasing children's interactive experience.
CR has designed a Darwin camp system specifically for children, which takes being close to nature as the core, aiming to create a new generation of children's growth environment full of fun and learning atmosphere, science majors, and suitable for movement and quiet, and its storytelling and interest are particularly prominent.
Camp Darwin features a variety of adorable critters, and through the stories of these animals, children are guided to explore and learn in their natural environment. In 2023, China Resources' first Darwinian camp "Songuo Land" will land in Qingdao, with the squirrels of Laoshan as the protagonists to launch a wonderful exploration story; In Shenzhen, Runhong City uses the local top star bird, the black-faced spoonbill, as the protagonist, extending the plot of forest travel.
On the one hand, CR delves deep into the essence of local culture and assigns each camp a unique theme story, which not only enriches the theme design, but also adds emotional depth and educational significance.
On the other hand, by integrating the familiar animals into the scene design, the camp successfully increased the children's participation and desire to explore, making the whole experience full of fun and interactivity.
It can be seen that Vanke and China Resources have core IPs in exploring the community practice of children's nature-friendly concepts, but the design concepts have their own emphasis, Vanke Botanical Garden attaches great importance to intimate contact with plants, and the Botanical Garden is an outdoor classroom and a platform for popular science education; CR Darwin Camp activates children's play instincts, encouraging them to explore nature through play and unfold real and interesting life.
02
Software operation: Vanke Sweet Classroom VS China Resources Darwin Classroom
Communities that explore the concept of child-friendly nature not only need to provide suitable physical space, but also need a series of well-designed service systems as support, and in this regard, Vanke and China Resources are also actively making efforts.
Since 2019, Vanke has launched the "Companion Season· Sweet Classroom" activity, which is the industry's first "Nature Classroom", which mainly allows children to grow up in nature and cultivate their interest and cognition of plants and nature through field exploration and learning in community botanical gardens.
Every summer, Vanke organizes a series of activities around different themes, aiming to allow children to learn and grow in nature. In the summer of 2024, the "Sweet Classroom" will take "I have a botanical garden at home" as the theme, advocating to touch, perceive, embrace, explore nature, and discover the wonderful little world around you downstairs and in the community.
These activities include basic education on plant cognition, customized special routes, joint urban botanical gardens to explore "biodiversity", DIY nature handicrafts and other experiences, so that children can gain a variety of play styles and growth experiences.
China Resources is also actively upgrading the scene experience of exploring nature. In July 2024, China Resources launched the "Darwin Classroom" in Qingdao for the first time, which is a set of operational activities closely integrated with the Darwin Camp, linking the three modules of universality, locality and creation, focusing on the combination of new curriculum standard reform and interdisciplinary integration, and connecting the knowledge in primary and secondary school textbooks with the model of international innovative education.
Specifically, the Darwin classroom takes the scene-based experience as the core, makes full use of the characteristics of the site, and uses a large number of living creatures, so that children can learn about the animals and plants around them in the natural exploration paradise at their doorstep, and turn book knowledge into a warm experience, so as to establish a link between children and nature.
Clearly, Vanke's "Sweet Classroom" has been growing for some time, not only with the support of official natural science institutions, but also with creative curriculum content that stimulates children's interest and enables them to gain substantial knowledge from it. In contrast, CR's "Darwin Classroom" has just been launched, and it emphasizes providing children with interactive and experiential learning, and its curriculum content still has great potential for development.
In general, both Vanke and China Resources attach great importance to the concept of child-friendly nature, and their practices are also all-round development from hardware facilities to software services. Through a series of educational activities combining the community botanical garden and the "Sweet Classroom", Vanke integrates nature education into community life, so that children can get in touch with nature and learn about nature at their doorstep. CR's Darwin Camp focuses on creating an environment that fosters nature exploration, providing children with the space to play and explore freely. Through the "Darwin Classroom", CR encourages children to learn through hands-on experience, stimulating their curiosity and desire to explore the natural world. Through different ways and activities, the two real estate companies provide children with opportunities to get close to nature and explore nature, nature + friendliness will also be the key to creating a better life! (Source: CRIC Product Evaluation)