Child’s play? Involving young people in urban planning and environmental management

How can young people be involved in creating more livable cities? Can the noble participation principles set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit, and Habitat II be realised? What is being done to help young people, especially children in difficult circumstances, to get their voices heard by policy-makers?

A manual from UNESCO, drawing on findings from the Growing Up in Cities Project, offers suggestions on how to plan, structure and facilitate the participation of young people in community development. The book is a companion volume to UNESCO’s ‘Growing up in an urbanising world’ and provides practical field-tested methods for incorporating children's perspectives and participation in urban planning and policy making.

The study notes that failing to involve young people in design of urban projects is in contravention of Article 12 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Too often, projects that claim to promote young people’s participation are, on closer inspection,

adult-controlled projects with little or no real participation from young people. Young people are told what to do or manipulated into supporting initiatives defined by adults.

The physical environment is much easier for people to grasp than abstract policy issues. Young people’s experience in using their own initiative to transform their daily surroundings can be a powerful exercise in community empowerment and a step toward greater structural and systemic change in the creation of sustainable and livable cities.

The manual’s ‘participation toolkit’ provides an overview of methods to engage young people in evaluating their local area and developing their own research-based priorities for improvement. However, the author stresses the need to select methods appropriate to the context rather than using the book as a ‘cookbook’ of magic recipes. There is guidance on how to involve young people in evaluating what works and does not work in the local area, from a young person's perspective, using drawings, interviews, walking tours, photography, role-plays, drama and puppetry, behaviour mapping and questionnaires. The manual also offers advice on how to engage young people with adult members of the community in exploring and implementing ideas for change, through community workshops and events and presentation of findings to officials.

Case studies from projects involving young people from a spectrum of low-income neighbourhoods across the globe suggest how participatory methods can be customised to meet local needs. They include descriptions of:

• young people from a squatter settlement preparing a submission for a workshop hosted by the mayor of Johannesburg
• the use of drawings and behaviour mapping to understand young people’s perception and use of their environment in Bangalore
• map-making and map-reading as part of a children’s summer programme in Saida, Lebanon
• a mapping exercise in Melbourne in which young people worked with residents of all ages to explore their memories, experiences and opinions about the local area.

Policy-makers are advised that working in partnership with young people involves:

• treating them with respect, fostering creativity and providing constructive criticism
• establishing realistic expectations and avoiding raising false hopes
• following through on commitments and expecting the same in return
• respecting young peoples’ other time commitments
• meeting in places where young people feel comfortable
• encouraging reflection, self-evaluation and child-generated indicators with which to measure progress in enhancing the livability of cities.

Source(s):
‘Creating better cities with children and youth: a manual for participation’ by D. Driskell in collaboration with members of the Growing Up In Cities Team, UNESCO, Earthscan Publications, 2002 Full document.

Funded by: UNESCO MOST (Management of Social Transformations)

id21 Research Highlight: 13 November, 2002

Further Information:
David Driskell
201 Thurston Avenue
Ithaca, NY 14850
U.S.A.

Tel: +1 607 257 4244 or +1 607 227 0327
Contact the contributor: dd96@cornell.edu

Nadia Auriat
Growing Up in Cities Project
UNESCO-MOST Programme
1, rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15
France

Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 68 38 62
Fax: +33 (0)1 45 68 57 24
Contact the contributor: n.auriat@unesco.org

Growing Up in Cities Project - UNESCO-MOST Programme

Other related links:
'Listen to kids! Involving young people in improving urban environments'

'Children at risk? Safer cities for kids'

IYF is dedicated to the positive development of children and youth throughout the world

Childwatch is a non-governmental network of institutions involved in research for children

Take a look at the resources offered by UNICEF's International Secretariat for Child Friendly Cities

Search the Participation Resource Centre