When conducting research with young people, studies consistently cite the need to establish trust and rapport with participants. However, what frequently goes unreported is how to evolve these often highly fragile research relationships, and the subtle tensions and negotiations that can occur. In this article I reflect on my experience of collaborating with a group of young people, identified by their school teachers as vulnerable and at risk of falling through the educational net post compulsory schooling. Through a reflexive approach, this article explores how the use of a participatory filmmaking method enabled and sustained a research relationship between the participants and myself, outlining how trust and rapport gradually emerged. Drawing on relational ethics, I describe the catalysing and democratising role creativity played in gaining insights into group dynamics and the implicit strategies adopted by the young people in the search for social self‐empowerment.
This article explores young peoples' perceptions and connections to their local cultural heritage in the Scottish Western and Northern Isles. Typically considered as heritage-rich contexts, this research project sought to gain an experiential understanding of young peoples' relationship to local cultural heritage assets; in what ways these hold value for them; and if and how they associate these and other aspects of island heritage with their own sense of identity and belonging. Set against the backdrop of increasing youth migration and depopulation in Scotland's island communities, insights emerged surrounding cultural advocacy, outward-facing representation and, in particular, the impact of tourism -as experienced by young people living in the diverse island contexts of Stornoway, Shetland and Orkney. Drawing on evidence from three island case studies, I present a studio-based approach for creatively engaging young people in heritage focused research. This article has methodological value for practitioners and researchers seeking to amplify youth-led perspectives on cultural heritage, as well as contextual insights in the areas of relational heritage and place-based identity.
In this article the authors set out and critically reflect upon an innovative pedagogical approach to delivering studio-based learningdrawing on the 'Collaborative Futures' project. Collaborative Futures is a live project premised on a futures-focused design brief written with an external partner. In previous iterations of the project, partners have included Hitachi and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Each year this project brings together a team of students in their final year on the Masters European Design programme to collaborate with a group of early career design graduates. Between 2019 and 2020, the Collaborative Futures project worked with Glasgow City Council's Centre for Civic Innovation to explore and prototype citizen-centred scenarios surrounding data experiences set in the context of Glasgow 2030. Throughout the project the student-graduate team engaged in multidisciplinary collaboration within and beyond the boundaries of the higher education studio context, working with civic, academic and design professionals, public and third sector organisations, and members of the public. The authors reflect on the design process; theoretically unpack the cross-cultural, studio-based collaboration that took place; and discuss the complex challenges that emerged and the meditating role design artefacts played. The insights presented in the article have value for design educators seeking new approaches to designing and delivering studio-based design learning that fosters creative, multidisciplinary communities of practice and collaborative capacity-building for design students in a professional setting. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Young people at risk of failing through the educational-net post compulsory schooling, or who have done so already, are too often subsumed under negative-based rhetoric such as disengaged, disaffected, and NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training). This rhetoric suggests that young people are responsible for their, supposedly, demobilised capacity and fails to acknowledge the fundamental adversities highly disadvantaged young people can face, further camouflaging the most vulnerable. In this paper I reflect on my experience of collaborating with a group of young people, identified by their schoolteachers as vulnerable and at risk of nonparticipation. I reflect on my incremental approach to building and sustaining research bonds, and the catalysing role creativity played. By transporting the technique of Direct Animation into a participatory design context, the participants produced metaphorical videography exploring their ambitions, motivations and anticipations for the future; a conduit through which they explored, translated, and narrated their experiences.
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