The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) has started an academic cooperation with Belarusian Universities; namely, the Faculty of International Relations at Belarusian State University (BSU), Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU) and Belarusian National Technical University (BNTU) on strengthening knowledge of human rights perspectives and humanitarian law among University teachers as well as developing academic literature resources, teaching curricula and scientific research.
Locating the study of gender and the planning system with an understanding of the links between the planning process and the human rights has been recognized as important by the BNTU. In this connection, RWI in cooperation with BNTU has tasked Nordregio (Nordic Center for Spatial Development) with providing guidance on how to include human rights and gender perspectives in urban planning in their specified courses. Based on the brief discussion with BNTU teachers, Nordregio elaborated on the most relevant issues with regards to mainstreaming human rights and gender perspectives in urban planning within the courses on Architectural and Urban Design, Social Foundations of Architecture and Theory of Architecture.
The purpose of these recommendations is to assist teachers at the BNTU with a theoretical background, teaching methods and reference material on the interactions between human rights, gender and urban planning by emphasizing their relevance and importance in achieving more inclusive and accessible cities.