Our history.
Founded in 2022 by Margaret Fraser and Stephanie Watt, Metalude uses its expertise and passion to improve the day-to-day lives of children. With one co-founder bringing 10 years of experience on the ground in Montréal and the other contributing a strong background in municipal policy, they created Metalude to promote inclusive cities focused on play, children’s rights and their participation in decision-making.
Why Metalude?
The term “metalude” refers to the moment of reverie that happens before play—a key time to foster children’s participation. We believe adults can and should use this moment of contemplation to create more opportunities for children to play and to participate.
Today, Metalude is recognized in its field for actively contributing to the development of innovative projects that encourage the participation of children and youth and ensure that they thrive.
Our mission.
Our mission is to advocate for children and young people’s right to the city. When public spaces and the public sphere are nourished and shaped by child and youth participation in decision-making and by their play, mobility and culture, this is a sign of a just and inclusive society and territory. We therefore encourage people from various backgrounds to work together to create a playful and inclusive public domain.
Our values.
When children have a place, the whole community grows. Rooted in ethics and curiosity, our work strengthens inclusion efforts made by communities.
Inclusion
Our work is based on the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Our goal is to include all children, in all their diversity.
Ethics
We make ethics central to our approaches, collaborations and actions because we want to not only honour our duty to advocate for children’s rights, but also to recognize everyone’s contribution and role.
Curiosity
Our curiosity helps us better understand the children and adults with whom we work and play. This open-mindedness cultivates innovative solutions that promote inclusion and well-being in our communities.
Our team.
Margaret Fraser (she/her)
Codirector and cofounder
Fraser’s belief in the necessity of children’s participation and play has led her to contribute to several child-, family- and play-centred organizations in her community. Most notably, in 2013 she founded The Lion and The Mouse where she developed innovative child-centred urban outdoor play programs. In her nearly 10 years as general director, she became immersed in both the theoretical and practical considerations for supporting children’s right to the city.
Fraser then shifted her focus to adults, encouraging them to think critically about their vision of childhood through a lens of access and equity. She began this work as a trainer and presenter with The Lion and The Mouse, then as a facilitator with the Child Nature Alliance of Canada and now carries it forward in her work with Metalude.
Fraser’s experience is informed by her education in community economic development, organizational development and critical disability studies.
Photo : Manoucheka Lachérie
Stephanie Watt (she/her)
Codirector and cofounder
Watt is an urban geographer and advocate of children’s rights and play. In 2017, she was elected to the Montréal city council on a child-inclusive, equity-seeking platform. As a city councillor, she piloted groundbreaking mobility, park and play projects anchored in children’s rights, such as the award-winning spaces Île aux volcans and Parc Rosemont.
Aligning her interests in cities and people, Watt initiated several participatory activities with children and youth to better understand their mobility, neighbourhood perceptions and use of public spaces. She also spearheaded the neighbourhood workshops Change ta ville; the woman-centric thought collective Dans la vi(ll)e; and Oust, a club for outdoor play in the city. She is pursuing her interests in shaping child-inclusive cities with Metalude.
Watt’s work is informed by her studies in geography, political science, playwork and public participation, and from her past work as an architecture educator and an urban studies editor.
Watt serves on the board of directors of Solon and is involved in the child-friendly city accreditation committee at Espace Muni.
Photo : Manoucheka Lachérie
