Places & Spaces in Children's Lives

The thematic focus of the 2016 meeting will be on the powerful connections between children and the physical environments in which they develop. Environments scaffold children's everyday lives and, by providing affordances for thought and action, influence development. At the same time, children are constructive agents in shaping the ways that they interact with, cognize, and impact their environments. One goal of the meeting is to examine theoretical models and empirical work that illuminate the how physical environments affect development. A second goal is to examine ways that children understand, represent, feel about, and use various kinds of physical environments (e.g., natural landscapes, urban centers, schools, and museums), and to identify ways that responses vary across differing environmental qualities and programs. A third goal is to consider implications of children's developing environmental conceptualizations and actions for design—both design of spaces themselves (outdoor, indoor, and virtual) as well as design of educational programs and experiences addressed to the physical world (Earth, ecology) intended to promote conservation and a sustainable life style.

Plenary Speakers

• Louise Chawla (University of Colorado)
• Robert Crosnoe (University of Texas)
• Peter H Kahn, Jr (University of Washington)
• Lynn S Liben (The Pennsylvania State University)
• William F Tate (Washington University)

Invited Symposia Chairs

• Ulrich Müller (University of Victoria)
• Roger M Downs (The Pennsylvania State University
• Jodie Plumert (University of Iowa)
• Megan Bang (University of Washington) 

Please visit http://piaget.org/Symposium/2016/index.html