ঢাকারবিবার , ৯ অগাস্ট ২০২৬
To improve road safety and reduce traffic-related fatalities in Chattogram, engineers from the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) received specialized training on designing safer access to schools. The day-long workshop, titled ‘Safe Access to School’, was organized by the World Resources Institute (WRI) on Monday at the CCC conference room.
Inaugurating the workshop, CCC’s Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Mohammed Tauhidul Islam emphasized the importance of integrating road safety into the city’s transport master plan. He also announced that a dedicated road safety cell would be formed within the CCC to ensure safety standards based on global best practices.
CCC Chief Engineer Anisur Rahman attended the event as a special guest. WRI Consultant Architect Farzana Islam Toma and Assistant Consultant Architect Arina Tahneem facilitated the training sessions. The workshop primarily focused on creating safer environments for children, who are among the most vulnerable road users in Bangladesh.
Farzana Islam Toma highlighted that even small design interventions around school access areas can significantly improve children’s safety. “We often fail to view the streets from a child’s perspective,” she said, adding, “Involving children in the design process is essential when planning for their safety.”
As part of the workshop, participating engineers conducted a site visit to Pahartali Girls School, where they observed the local context, spoke with students and teachers, and identified key safety challenges. Divided into teams, the engineers developed redesigned layouts for the school zone based on their findings and presented their proposals during a group discussion session.
The workshop was attended by executive, assistant, and sub-assistant engineers from the CCC’s Civil Department. It marked the fourth installment in a series of capacity-building workshops under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS).
WRI has previously organized three similar workshops in 2023 and 2024, focusing on collaborative design learning. As a key partner in the BIGRS program, WRI provides technical support to cities worldwide to enhance street safety and sustainable urban mobility, adapting to diverse local and geographic contexts.
The training is expected to contribute to safer streets for children in Chattogram and set a precedent for integrating inclusive and data-driven design practices into urban infrastructure planning.
