The Greater London Authority (GLA) have commissioned the CARES arm of the London Met Lab to undertake research into the challenges that young Londoners face, to help shape the GLA’s holistic approach to empowering the voice of young Londoners.
About the project
The London Met team will be carrying out research to support the GLA to take a holistic approach in tackling the challenges faced by young Londoners.
The research will primarily be conducted through participatory learning and research, with active participation from members of London’s youth community who will guide the direction and focus of the research. We will also be reviewing evidence gathered by the GLA to map out the ecosystems and interactions that underpin youth social action in London.
How the research will be carried out
In undertaking the research, our CARES team will:
- Recruit a steering group composed of members of London’s youth community, from the London Met student cohort.
- Review and analyse evidence provided by the GLA to develop a map of the systems underpinning youth social action.
- Host a participatory and learning action (PLA) day at London Met with young Londoners, focused on understanding the facilitators and barriers to youth social action.
Anticipated outcomes and outputs
The key deliverables of the research project are:
- A visual systems map, that reviews the evidence gathered by the GLA.
- An infographic on barriers and facilitators to youth social action, following participatory research.
- A final report research publication
Project team:
Supporting the core team:
Student team:
Emma Seymour, admin assistant
External collaborators:
More information
The GLA are committed to empowering marginalised young Londoners through amplifying youth voices, supporting them to become change-makers in their communities and tackle issues facing the city, such as climate change, social injustice, mental health, and safe spaces.
Young Londoners face many complex and multifaceted challenges. Research shows that young people were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside this, rising living costs are impacting young Londoners' mental health and wellbeing. In London, three in four children in poverty are in persistent poverty – or 24% of all children (500,000). This is much higher than in the UK as a whole, and this pushes the proportion of all people in persistent poverty in London well above the national average. (State of London, GLA Report)
Steering group
A steering group composed of London’s youth community (from the London Met student cohort) will be recruited. The steering group will meet on several occasions to discuss:
- co-creation of the research approach,
- planning and participating in a PLA research event,
- analysing the findings and discern their meaning,
- reviewing the outputs from the programme of work and
- highlighting recommendations for practice, future investigation and approaches for knowledge exchange.
Systems mapping
We will create a visual systems map from existing evidence provided by the GLA. We will develop a map of the interacting systems underpinning youth social action. Through advanced qualitative analysis we will decipher from the existing evidence the relationship and power dynamics that exist between London’s youth and the different actors within the ecosystem, and how these potentially impact their engagement with social action.
The systems map will influence the identification of topic areas for investigation during our participatory research when considering the barriers and facilitators to engagement.
Participatory Learning and Action Day
The Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) event will be a youth social action day, held at London Met. The systems map and the steering group priorities will inform the day, which will aim to understand the barriers to, and the facilitators for, amplifying youth voice and participation in youth social action. The research team and members of the steering group will facilitate a series of workshops throughout the day, gathering data, collecting and analysing information, to the level of accuracy needed to inform decision-making and action.
A range of methodologies could be used during the PLA event including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, photography, video, case studies, and the use of secondary data sources. A participatory approach gives an even playing field for all actors to contribute to knowledge production and therefore, the methods to be used for gathering data are be decided by the steering group prior to the PLA event.
A participatory approach will be at the heart of the research, to give an even playing field for all actors to contribute knowledge. This approach will encourage active participation and engagement from the young Londoners on the steering group and attending the PLA day.
The exact methodologies used during the PLA event will be guided by the steering group. They may include participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, photography, video, case studies, and the use of secondary data sources.
The outputs of the research will help inform priority action areas for the GLA around empowering youth voices and youth social action.
Project partners
