Connecting disadvantaged young people with landscape through arts

The proposed project follows on from the successful Stories2Connect (S2C) project which worked in participatory ways with disadvantaged children and young people to create stories based on their lived experiences, told through a range of co-designed story-telling digital machines for different audiences. S2C was shortlisted for the AHRC-Wellcome Health Humanities Medal 2018, and won a prize of £10,000 from EPSRC to create a film about the impact and engagement of the project. We created 50 stories and designed and produced five artefacts to access stories through physical interaction and a mobile phone app. In addition, 43 of the stories have been printed as storybooks, and 18 have been created as films on the project website. The combination of stories and digital artefacts has been significant in creating a whole new genre/method/means of story-telling, involving elements of touch, space, movement, enhancing the sensual and physical experience and thereby adding to the knowledge exchange process.
This follow-on funding will be used to engage with new audiences and new themes of work by collaborating with organisations encountered during and since the project, specifically with the Rusland Horizons Trust, Art Gene, Blackpool Council, the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, environmental charities and professional storytellers. These connections link with a theme that developed, about young people's participation in the appreciation and uses of their natural environment. Our participatory methodology will be applied in developing and using the new resources and will lead to co-produced artistic outputs focused on contributing young people's perspectives to decision-making about landscape.
Our evaluation interviews and feedback from publics and professionals who have accessed the outputs have demonstrated the significance of the project for improving engagement, self-esteem, confidence, resilience and attainment for the disadvantaged young people who have been involved. As a team, the young people and the academics therefore intend to create a means of enabling other groups to develop their own stories and bespoke story-telling devices.
Case studies in the North West will take place in Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool, and the Rusland Valley. These three areas are all in NW England, rich in natural landscapes and close to areas of high deprivation. Disadvantaged young people from urban areas close to these natural environments do not necessarily benefit from them as much as those who visit from further afield. This means that the local populations are marginalised in any decisions that are made about their own landscapes. Our focus on disadvantaged/disabled children and young people is of particular importance as their voices are the least likely to be heard.
We are collaborating with a range of community groups to work with their aims of enhancing children's appreciation and understanding of the countryside and on improving adults' understanding of children and young people's needs within natural environments. For example, RHT will conduct environmental workshops with groups from schools in urban areas relatively close to the Rusland Heritage area of the Lake District. Using collaborative methods for writing, as developed in S2C and described in a co-authored practitioner guide (Satchwell et al 2018), the SCBWI volunteers and local community volunteers will help the young people to co-create stories, poems and songs.
Young people will benefit from participating and from having their perspectives captured and conveyed to influential stakeholders.
Those stakeholders will benefit from recognising and including perspectives from children and young people in maintaining and creating landscapes. The general public will gain greater understanding of children and young people and landscapes which take them into account.
The environment will benefit from greater care and attention from those who use it.

We aim to transfer expertise and knowledge from academic institutions to the public domain. The knowledge exchange processes of the original Stories2Connect project, working in synergy with community groups and organisations, will be extended and strengthened. Distribution of our methodologies in accessible and usable forms to community groups will enhance the participation of disadvantaged and disabled children and young people in decisions about issues that of immediate concern to them.
The focus on landscape and the natural environment will give disadvantaged/disabled children and young people opportunities to experience the outdoor environment close to where they live, and receive the well-documented benefits to health and well-being. In addition, as evidenced in Stories2Connect, the young people in the project will experience an increased sense of agency, confidence, and skills in contributing their views in ways that will influence decision-making. As requested, the groups will meet each other and benefit from increased social networks. We expect to directly reach around 150 children and young people, with many more influenced through engagement with the interactive artefacts which are produced.
Artists using a wide range of modes and media (poets, creative writers, artists, storytellers, song-writers) will be employed by the groups according to the preferences and aims of the young people and facilitators involved. This will strengthen community bonds with the arts for future projects. At least 10 artists are already tentatively involved.
The Grundy Art Gallery will benefit from increased footfall from disadvantaged groups who would not normally access it, and enhanced engagement from regional communities.
The disabled children and young people involved in the original S2C research will benefit further in the Follow-on project from carrying out their role as consultants and mentors for new young people becoming involved.
Environmental groups and charities who want to involve communities - particularly young people - in appreciating and connecting with their local environment will benefit from receiving the final versions of the resources for conducting workshops, and being empowered to continue their environmental work.
Land owners and organisations such as the National Trust and Natural England will benefit from being able to access the views and contributions of young people presented in accessible ways, when engaged in making decisions. They will also have access to methods for conducting their own research with children and young people when considering new projects or initiatives.
The public will benefit from landscapes which are appreciated by and accessible to children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are therefore more likely to contribute to maintaining the existence of AONBs and SSSIs in their locality. The environment itself will benefit from the care and attention that will ensue from this project.
The artefacts co-created during the project, including for example an interactive map, will have digital affordances to continue to act as a depository for creative arts products from children and young people. In addition to the evidence from participation with children and young people in NW England, the organically growing online resource will be an embodiment of views to be made available to landscape decision-making across the UK and beyond. This will be a sustainable legacy and resource for informing decision-making now and in the future. We will promote its use through our connections to public decision-makers at European and UK levels. We will also broaden its uptake by public decision makers by co-hosting an event with Natural England. Sustainability of the website and co-designed artefacts will be ensured by linking them to the suite of online resources, social media connections, and impact tracking mechanisms at The Centre for Children and Young People's Participation.