‘Don’t Play with our Future’ as part of @londonfestivalofarchitecture. Organised by @clairecurtice . Hosted by @feildenfowles Greta Thunberg’s #FridaysforFuture movement inpsired young activists around the world to protest against apathy on climate change. It demonstrated the impact of young minds when empowered and inspired to effect change. In the built environment the imagination of children is a relatively untapped resource. Adults’ voices count more. Kids – who aren’t hampered by the assumptions and preconceived ideas of adult world views – are rarely consulted, and yet they will live for longer and be shaped by the spaces, places and cities we are currently designing. Chaired by @vcky_rchrdsn, we explored the subject of co-design as a methodology to engage children, seeking new ways to break down barriers to participation. We critically asked if the Greta phenomenon enables a lack of leadership in adults. For a profession currently undergoing a crisis of relevance, is it wise for architects to relinquish their creativity to younger end-users in the name of inclusion? Children can reveal valuable insight. They also have an extraordinary capacity for imaginative thought, which can act as a catalyst for change. However, engaging children through co-design is not an abdication of design responsibility. It is a rather a valuable enriching of the brief. For co-design to be truly meaningful, it needs to engage people of all ages and backgrounds, importantly seeking out non-users and understanding and resolving the reasons why they are currently unengaged. Listening is critical. Our goal is threefold: to understand the design situation; to gain insights and explore imaginative possibilities; to understand what any proposed design project would mean for the users impacted…what are the opportunities and challenges? Does our education system, based on strict curriculum and mark sheets, perhaps erode our children’s ability to explore and take risks? There is, for instance, a marked difference between co-designing with primary schools kids compared to teenagers. It is an interesting question to consider why this might be? #dematosryan
