FAQ's
What is womenstown.tk for?
womenstown.tk is a resource for teaching and learning about gender and built
environments. The site's purpose is to collect and share resources exploring
this interdisciplinary area. Our aim is to link people of diverse backgrounds,
particularly from the grassroots. Site users come from various settings - students, educators, people from community based organizations and policy makers, all working towards making built environments that are more suited to people's needs, and the needs of women in particular.
Who created womenstown.tk?
womenstown.tk was initiated by Caroline Denigan, a feminist activist and
professor in Architecture & Planning and Gender Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. The website was created by Trinity Ryan, a graduate student in the School of Education at the University of Colorado, Denver, USA. Web site development was overseen by Dave Young, professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado, Denver, USA.
Why was womenstown.tk created?
This site was inspired by Ms Denigan's attendance at the 1995 Beijing United Nations
4th World Conference on Women and the associated NGO Forum. At the time an
undergraduate student of architecture, Caroline was struck by the unique nature
of the NGO Forum site, populated as it was by approximately 35,000 women who had come
together from around the globe to work to improve women's lives. Her photographs from this event, and accompanying commentary, record and explore issues women face in built environments every day.
In her ongoing research Caroline noted how material about women's experiences in built environments, particularly knowledge of grassroots women managing and building environments to suit their needs, was lost in the fractures between disciplines. There was also a lack of collection points for information about women's activities on the ground.
This site aims to better link people with a common interest in gender and built environments across the globe and across educational and disciplinary boundaries to share knowledge and experience.
Who do I contact for help using this site?
If you have any troubles accessing this site or the materials contained within, please contact Ms Denigan through www.denigan.com.
How do I add materials to this site?
We would like you to become part of the womenstown.tk community. To add a resource, simply select the "Add a resource to this site!" link from the Main Menu, or click here. All contributions published on the site are attributed, and authors retain
copyright of their materials. We hope that in such sharing of knowledge and experience, members of the global community teach each other and learn from each other, enabling women to improve their lives.