The Children and Teenager’s Neighbourhood Project
The Project
Across 2023/24, we worked in five communities across Scotland to co-create Neighbourhood Plans with children and teenagers. We worked with both primary and secondary ages in each place, and around 300 children and young people were involved in total. The project was match funded as part of Paths for All’s Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Programme, and 7 local partners.
Approach
The objective of this project was to create children’s and teenagers’ maps of their local areas from their perspectives and work with them to identify local opportunities for improvement and interventions that deliver cohesive places and reduce unsustainable travel. The plans created can now be used to inform decision-making across multiple departments which influence local placemaking. They are also supporting local community decision-making in some areas. The ambition is that at least some of the opportunities for local improvement identified by the children and young people will be realised through the alignment of ongoing projects, policy programmes and opportunities for intervention.
We worked collaboratively with Paths for All, City of Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian, Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeen for a Fairer World, Falkirk Council, Shetland Islands Council, and Scottish Borders Council to pick five neighbourhoods to work in. We wanted to select places that both represent the diversity of Scotland’s geography, and where there was clearest opportunity for impact. In each area, the plans were created for a slightly different purpose. For example, in Edinburgh the focus was public health, in Falkirk it was community action, and in Aberdeenshire it was climate adaptation.
In each place, we conducted the same process which had previously been honed through our placemaking projects. We also experimented with stakeholder engagement sessions, and supporting children and young people to consult their peers.
Outcome
To see an example of what young people had to say, you can hear from the pupils of Inverurie Academy in this video.
To see the methods we used and case studies, you can take a look at our resulting ‘How To Guide’ here.
A full project report which gives overarching insights on the themes that would support children’s rights in each place will be published here soon.