How can young people become active in research projects, and ensure the voices of their peers are included in academic research? We are collaborating with creative organisations in east London over the next three years to develop toolkits to help answer this vital question.
In partnership with Spotlight, a youth club in Poplar, this project will engage directly with young people to develop the toolkits, which will then be available for academics who are planning to recruit, train and meaningfully collaborate with young peer researchers.
By involving young people as peer researchers, academics are ensuring that the outcomes of their research are more relevant to communities and give more agency to them to ask the important questions and decide how they want to implement findings.
This is the start of the three-year project that will convene a network of academics across Queen Mary with experience of/interest in working with young people and connect them with creative youth workers, teachers and young people who will inform and shape the toolkits developed.
It's part of a wider programme of work at Queen Mary that builds on existing practice and seeks to foster a culture of high-quality participatory research. For more opportunities to explore skills and funding available for participatory research with people of all ages, contact the Centre for Public Engagement