Written by:
Maja Luna Jorgensen
Over the past two years, The Glass-House has been working in partnership with the Citizenship Foundation to develop an educational programme to be delivered in secondary schools, aiming to provide skills development for young people alongside the opportunity to learn more about the changes that are taking place in their local area.
The partnership recently worked with the international property and infrastructure group, Lend Lease, to deliver a taster of this programme to support the engagement of young people in the development of an open space for the company’s £1.5 billion regeneration of Elephant & Castle, and to learn more about the impact of this approach on young people and their place.
On 22nd October 2013 we delivered an intensive and engaged workshop to 25 young students studying geography and acting as Green Ambassadors within their school – Sacred Heart Catholic School in Camberwell, South London.
Drawing on our Design by Consensus workshop, a stakeholder role playing exercise, and the expertise of the Citizenship Foundation to create school resources around regeneration and citizenship, the day was full of hands-on opportunities for the students to learn about and explore the future of their area. Employee volunteers from Lend Lease were at hand to teach and learn from the young people in an equal exchange of ideas and knowledge.
The collated student reflections on the day and in feedback forms revealed an impressive impact from a one-day workshop and demonstrates the significant increase in feeling of agency and empowerment that can be achieved through knowledge, skills and by enabling young people to connect with what’s going on in their local area.
You can find out more about the partnership and how we can support your work with young people in your neighbourhood by contacting Maja, Strategic Projects Manager for The Glass-House.
‘Can young people be placemakers?’ is the theme of the next debate in our 2013/14 series taking place in Newcastle on 20 November 2013, 6-8pm.