Amman Children’s Climate Academy and Park

Summary

The Greater Amman Municipality commits to constructing a public park near Al-Hussein Refugee Camp and establishing the city’s first Children’s Climate Academy to teach Amman’s youngest generation the importance of environmental stewardship. 

Amman will rehabilitate an open space near Al-Hussein Refugee Camp to build an accessible, climate-adaptive, and age- and gender-responsive public park. In addition to a children’s playground, sports pitches, and walking paths, the park will feature shaded areas where caregivers can rest. The park will also incorporate green infrastructure, such as vegetation and green cover, permeable surfaces to reduce water runoff, and flood-prevention mechanisms. These features will help Amman adapt to and mitigate climate change by improving air and water quality, preventing flooding, and reducing the urban heat island effect. 

Within the park, Amman will establish its first Children’s Climate Academy to provide a safe and welcoming space for refugee and Jordanian children to learn about inclusive climate action. The Academy will offer hands-on workshops on topics like the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the greenhouse effect, and air pollution. 

With this commitment, Amman will build a more inclusive, climate-resilient future for its youngest residents. This project is supported by the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees.

Impact

Amman’s Climate Academy and Park will promote social inclusion and healthy development for refugees and receiving community members while spurring inclusive climate action and bolstering climate resilience. 

The public park will be a hub for community engagement and childhood development. The recreational facilities, including a reading area, sports grounds, a garden, and walking paths, will promote children’s healthy physical and emotional wellbeing. By creating a safe space for refugee children and caregivers to learn, play, and interact with their receiving community peers, the park will foster stronger relationships between Amman residents of all backgrounds. 

Amman’s project will also strengthen the city’s climate resilience. In addition to creating a vibrant and welcoming public space on previously underutilized city land, the park’s green infrastructure will help Amman adapt to and mitigate climate change: its green cover, permeable surfaces, shade structures, and other sustainable elements will improve air and water quality, prevent flooding, and mitigate the urban heat island effect. The Children’s Climate Academy will create an engaging and safe environment for refugee children and their peers to learn about climate change and its impacts. Through its educational programming, the Academy will foster a sense of environmental stewardship in Amman’s youngest residents and cultivate a culture of inclusive climate action whose impacts will be felt for generations to come.