A workshop to provide children, young people and governments with participatory research skills for evaluating and improving local environments Background Information Mission Purpose The purpose of the second mission to Port Moresby in November 1999 by the Asia-Pacific GUIC team was to conduct a Growing Up In Cities workshop, support the running of the National Youth Forum and compile data on the impact of urbanisation on young people growing up in urban villages in the NCD. Specific Objectives There were a number of specific objectives to support the overall purpose of the mission. Provide government officials, youth leaders and young people with practical participatory research skills for evaluating local environments with children and youth in urban and rural villages; Provide a practical fieldwork context where workshop participants could be involved in participatory data collection with young people growing up in an urban village; Collect and analyse data collaboratively with the young people of Hanuabada urban village and the research participants; Create a forum for highlighting the impact of development on urban villages, in particular the lives of children and youth, by providing an opportunity for Motu Koita youth to share their lived experiences with the wider community; Engage the participants in activities which will enhance their capacity to make worthwhile contributions to the National Youth Forum which will proceed the workshop; Support the youth of the Pacific Youth Forum committee coordinate and conduct the PNG National Youth Forum; Act as facilitators by supporting the youth in the development of the First National Youth Declaration; Identify what opportunities exist and make recommendations for ongoing Growing Up In Cities projects in the region. Growing Up In Cities Workshop Team Dr Karen Malone Asia-Pacific Director UNESCO Growing Up In Cities project, Monash University, Peninsula Campus, Frankston VIC 3199 Mr Lindsay Hasluck Lecturer, Indigenous Studies, Heritage and Environmental Resource Management, Institute for Koorie Studies, Deakin University, Geelong VIC 3217 Mr Haraka Gaudi Project Officer UNESCO-CSI project PNG Po Box 100, University Post Office NCD, Papua New Guinea

Background Notes on Growing Up In Cities Workshops

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

Growing Up In Cities workshops provide suggestions, guidelines, and tools to help you design and implement community development projects that involve children and youth. They are intended for anyone who is interested in improving the quality of young people’s lives, including city officials, policy makers, service organizations, youth advocates, educators, city planners, architects, and—most importantly—youth themselves.

The workshop draws upon the ideas and experiences of an ongoing global initiative called Growing Up in Cities, which aims to develop a better understanding of how young people perceive, use, and value the public places in their cities. It also seeks to understand the ways in which the local environment encourages or inhibits young people’s development as individuals and fellow citizens. Most importantly, Growing Up in Cities aims to encourage the participation of young people in evaluating their environment and taking action to improve it.

The workshops objective is to skill participants so they will be able to design and implement projects that give young people a voice, and to foster greater awareness among local decision makers and urban professionals of the impacts that their decisions and actions have on young lives. Through the initiation of projects stemming from these workshops participants will join a growing movement of people who are involving young people—in addition to the community as a whole—as partners in the community development process.

Key Premises

The Growing Up in Cities project and the workshops based on this project work are founded on several important premises:

Young people are the future.

A well-worn saying, but undeniably true. Investments made in developing young people’s knowledge, skills, and social responsibility are the best investments we can make towards creating a better future.

The local environment can help or hinder young people’s development.

The "local environment" encompasses all those factors that contribute to an area’s uniqueness as a place and community, including its physical, social, economic, political and historical characteristics. As such, the local environment can either pose significant threats to children’s physical, mental, emotional, and social development, or it can provide positive opportunities for children to explore, grow, and engage with the world around them, helping them to learn valuable skills and to develop their identity and self-confidence. While the local environment is certainly not the only factor in young people’s development, it is often an over-looked and under-appreciated factor. The planners, designers, and managers of cities must understand the impact that local development decisions have on young people’s lives, and maximize every opportunity to improve the quality of the local environment for young people, and for the community as a whole.

Local research and knowledge build a foundation for policy and action.

Policymaking, development decisions, and other actions are too often based on an inadequate or inaccurate understanding of the local situation. This is especially true when dealing with children and youth in complex urban environments. The world of childhood today is different than it was even ten years ago, and the complexities of today’s cities do not lend themselves to simplistic generalizations. Policies and actions that intend to respond to community needs must be based on a thorough understanding of what those needs are and the context in which they exist. Quality research that draws upon local knowledge must be the first step in effective policymaking.

Young people should be partners in community development.

Young people are important members of our urban communities, and should be considered legitimate participants—along with the rest of the community—in the development process. They are intimately familiar with the local environment, and are the only true experts on how the local environment and development decisions impact the lives of the young people who live there. They should be active and valued partners in efforts towards positive community change.

Everybody learns and grows through participation.

Process is as important as product, and the participation process is a powerful vehicle for both formal and non-formal learning. Through participatory community evaluation, planning, design, and management, young people are exposed to a wide range of people and ideas, and develop valuable new skills. Adult professionals, government officials, and local decision makers also grow and learn through their involvement in participatory exercises, developing a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of local issues and a greater appreciation for the perspectives and insights of young citizens.

Growing Up In Cities requires a multi-tier, long-term approach.

While the focus of this manual is on the physical environment of cities in relation to young people, the creation of environments that truly support children’s development must engage a much wider range of issues at the local, national, and global levels. Most if not all of the projects that are undertaken to improve the physical quality of cities will require that a host of other issues be considered and addressed as well, from local governance to social and economic justice issues. While no single project will magically result in a city that meets young people’s needs, each will be an important step in the right direction, affecting change not only in the physical environment, but also in the lives of those who participate in making that change a reality.

Global initiatives require local implementation.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child and several important UN initiatives of the past decade (e.g., Agenda 21 and the Habitat Agenda) have established a global policy framework in support of sustainable cities and participatory development practices. While this global framework provides critical policy support, it is only at the local level where real change takes place. If we are going to realize the lofty goals set forth by these global initiatives, then we must develop and support similar initiatives at the local level.

Physical environment issues and actions provide a valuable starting point

The physical environment is tactile, real, and approachable. It is much easier to grasp than other more abstract policy issues. Young people’s experience of transforming the physical environment—seeing real, concrete change that is a direct result of their own initiatives—can be a powerful exercise in community empowerment, and an important step on the road to greater structural and systemic change in the creation of sustainable and child-friendly cities.