Insights

Read thought leadership from our trustees and the things we’ve learned from our work.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: Learning from Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers and Refugees

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: Learning from Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers and Refugees

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, we detail the experiences and needs of young people who are refugees or asylum seekers and have been separated from their families. We also note what they need to be incorporated into the Children and Young People’s Manifesto for Rights in Recovery.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People. Young Carers Part 2

COVID-19 for Children and Young People. Young Carers Part 2

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, the second of two, we detail the experiences and needs of Young Carers. This blog focuses on the experiences of young carers living across Highland, and what both they and young carers from Edinburgh need us to incorporate into our Manifesto for Children and Young People’s Rights in Recovery.

Minecraft – a creative sandbox for engaging children and young people in urban design

Minecraft – a creative sandbox for engaging children and young people in urban design

In June 2021, we had the absolute pleasure of working with Sustrans Scotland, St Paul’s Youth Forum, and St Philomena’s Primary School (in north-east Glasgow), on a pilot placemaking project to engage local children using game Minecraft. Working with a team of 10 budding young designers, we alternated between site visits, group discussions, and using Minecraft to explore designs for a new public square in neighbouring Langdale Street. The Minecraft world included a faithful rendering of the local area, with local landmarks and many of the children’s homes.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: A Strategy to turn our Asks into a Scotland-wide Manifesto

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: A Strategy to turn our Asks into a Scotland-wide Manifesto

This blog presents the strategy, constructed with our Young Consultants on the #ScotYouthandCOVID2 project, to turn their Asks to the Scottish Government into a manifesto for as many children and young people as possible. Key themes include representation, communication, cooperation & collaboration, being heard, and considering timelines.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: New Experiences and Best Practice

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: New Experiences and Best Practice

In workshop 4 of #ScotYouthandCOVID2 we reflected together with our Young Consultants on how the project had gone so far, anything new that had emerged over the Easter Holidays, and within each taskforce group looked at how we might learn from best practice for developing recommendations to the new Scottish Government administration. The findings relate to wellbeing, remote schooling and the return to school buildings.

Covid-19 Remote Learning: Small Changes, Big Difference for Scotland’s Children and Young People

This blog, the fourth about our Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, details further outcomes from Workshop 3 that relate to remote learning and the growing attainment gap. Taking the 5 big Covid-19 challenges discussed in workshop 2, our young consultants were unanimous that remote schooling is having the greatest impact on their well-being.

A Child-Friendly Scottish Planning System

A Child-Friendly Scottish Planning System

This blog sets out how to create a child-friendly Scottish planning system. It summarises our response to Scottish Government’s ‘Call for Ideas’ for the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which will be the overarching framework that sets out statutory responsibilities of planning at all levels.