Beneficiaries
Researchers from various disciplines
Outputs will cover: participation/citizenship; urban planning/design; technology; mobility; youth lifestyles. Significant new data will be generated and contribute knowledge about the relationship between young people to the urban environment and its design in the new urban spaces. By the end of the project we will submit numerous papers to academic journals; present at three international conferences and obtain a contract for a co-authored academic book targeted at researchers/postgraduate students. Workshops and an international conference will engage academics, practitioners & policy researchers from various disciplines, and young people.
Companies and public sector bodies
The proposed project will interact closely with Northamptonshire LAA (Local Area Agreement); UDCs (West Northants. Development Corporation [WNDC] and North Northants. Development Company [NNDC]) and LSP responsible for urban development in the MKSM Growth Area. In addition, the proposed project has the support of service providers concerned with children and young people's health, well-being and social and cultural lives in MKSM (for example, Northamptonshire CYPP). Throughout the project, the team will meet local partners to disseminate recent findings. The website will support this process, with a dedicated zone for practitioners and partners. Key partners will take part in the project workshops and conference, in particular enabling them to better understand their role in respect of delivering sustainable, liveable NUPs for young people. A key responsibility of the 'knowledge transfer' Research Assistant will be to develop collaborative mechanisms for the effective transfer of data, reports and recommendations into processes of urban development, locally and regionally.
Policy makers
Transfer of findings, practice and recommendations to a broader constituency of regional and national policy-makers will be fostered through submission of a number of papers to professional journals (e.g. Built Environment; Town and Country Planning), focussing on planning, design and youth work. The team will produce a series of transferable recommendations, case study and CPD materials for stakeholders in NUPs in the UK. These will be available via the website and will be: themed by sector (e.g. landscape design, transport, youth participation); critical, constructive and challenging; publicised via media outlets (regional newspapers & radio, websites); disseminated to national policy-makers (e.g. Department for Children, Families and Schools; CABE). Local and national policy-makers will participate in the workshops and conference and be targeted for the dissemination of findings and recommendations from the project.
Young people and communities in new urban places (NUPs)
The project will be committed to increasing the visibility of young people's experiences and needs. Central to the project will be the development of transferable, sustainable practices to support young people in the following activities. Young people will be engaged with the project at all stages and will be encouraged to participate in local community forums, set up by the project team with youth workers, but eventually run by/with young people. Their learning about local decision-making processes and their reflection on their own rights and responsibilities, lifestyles, and roles within their newly-emerging communities will be documented and provide further material for developing participative practices in their own communities and elsewhere.
