As future citizens, children and young people have a critically important stake in how buildings and spaces are shaped. Their voices have been rarely heard in decisions about urban design, and they have few opportunities to develop skills and knowledge to contribute effectively, as architecture is not a subject taught in the UK school curriculum. 

 

For several years now, there has been a growing awareness among built environment professionals that engaging young people constructively is a vital part of creating places and spaces that benefit everyone in society. The Thornton Education Trust (TET) aims to close the gap between the world of primary- and secondary school education and the built environment, and also ensure that youth engagement is recognised as a valuable part of creating better neighbourhoods and social value. In partnership with NLA, we are seeking responses to a survey that will help map current activity, give us a stronger picture of what has already been achieved, and highlight potential routes for future research and development. 

 

A people-centred approach to shaping buildings and places can help to build the next generation of civic-minded, design-conscious people, including children – who are our future clients. Let us for a moment consider that if every UK architect actively worked with just 10 children or young people once every year, the profession would reach 500,000 young people. If we doubled that figure to 20 children per year (a smaller number than the average UK class size) that total reach would be 1 million – with the potential for incredible step change. 

 

Helping children and young people to understand how they can shape the built environment is a vital part of delivering socially responsible design, and many architects are looking for new ways to do this and to add greater purpose to their practice. We now see substantial engagement with young people in both public-sector and joint public/private projects, especially with the requirement for companies to demonstrate social value when bidding for public-sector contracts. But architects and others have found many creative approaches and developed new models for engaging future generations. Some individuals have established community interest companies (CICs), not-for-profit organisations or collaborative endeavours, such as Build Up, POoR Collective and Matt+Fiona. Others, such as Archimake and Urban Learners, have developed programmes of workshops run by individual architects, and some practices have even created their own specific programmes, such as AHMM’s annual Summer School. There are of course also established architecture organisations developing and running schools and learning programmes, such as the RIBA, Placed and Design West, across the UK, and Architecture Foundation, Open City, and the learning programmes by NLA in London. Collaborating directly with schools, especially in the design of new education buildings, is another brilliant way to connect with future generations.

 

Despite so much activity, progress in achieving wider change is still hampered by a lack of sharing knowledge and best practice. TET’s goal is to build capacity not only by recognising the many initiatives taking place, through our Awards programmes, https://www.thorntoneducationtrust.org/tet-awards but also to build a resource bank of inspirational exemplars and to develop specialist research programmes to inform debate and change, in policy, in schools and in higher education. Architects believe that the environment can bring benefit to well-being and society as a whole but even more is required to create this step change.

 

The architecture profession is creating and delivering so many great projects and initiatives engaging children and young people. We are also keen to highlight and communicate how the profession recognises the value of inclusivity, child-friendly places and community wellbeing. If you are working directly with children and young people as part of your company’s projects or practice, we are keen to hear from you – please do help us to show what is already being achieved by completing the survey below.