Urban Solutions Seminar

Hello Urban colleagues,

The European Commission launched two new calls for proposals: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/calls-for-proposals/calls-for-proposals_en.htm

-      Call for proposals for Action 4.6 - 'Youth Support Systems - Partnerships'

-      Call for proposals for Action 4.4 - 'Projects encouraging innovation and quality'

They can be used for ‘innovative projects’ or ‘partnerships’ – so your creativity is the limit to apply for this funding!

Tony

I recently attended a really great community event in London called High Street 2012 about a communities relationship with the city: http://www.highstreet2012.com/

 As part of it there was an input about urban riots in relation to architecture. I think it's really useful to get an architectural insight into some of the issues. See these articles, a key point Wouter made was that the urban neighbourhoods of the banlieu riots and the London riots are very similar in architectural terms (high density 1960's high rise):

 http://www.standard.co.uk/arts/architecture/what-now-for-the-regeneration-of-london-6433765.html

 http://bk.tudelft.nl/fileadmin/Faculteit/BK/Actueel/Nieuws/Nieuwsberichten_2011/doc/Back_to_Normal_WouterVanstiphout_BDOnline.pdf

Again if any of you are interested I produced a document a few years ago for the street work project I was director of on making a case for supporting our work - financially speaking.  I made the arguments about investment now Vs paying for prison costs later....this will give you some ideas on how to maybe market your own arguments because it uses previous research that's 'out there' to underpin the arguments for investing in young people at a young age.

Just another useful tool or at least I think so:-).....I undertook a bit of research a few years ago in the area we ran the street work project....of course its relevant to this area but perhaps some of the questions posed could be of use to you if you are trying to understand anti-social behaviour in your area that you are working with young people...

I'm not sure if this is available outside of the UK but this programme gave an interesting insight into the impact of urban planning in one area in London. The documentary looks at how the clearance of streets to make way for high rise apartments in the 60s had a lasting effect on the community. It also highlights how difficult it is for a community to stand up to 'progress'. It seems a bit biased at times buts it's definitely worth a watch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01jt9bv/The_Secret_History_of_Our_Stree...

Below are some of the thoughts I had when I initially contemplated the topic of the seminar.

Inclusion? Conversations about young people often focus on promoting inclusion, participation and empowering choice. However, it is important to ask ourselves: inclusion in what and on what terms? With what consequence for other (sub-culture) identities? 

Inclusion can sometimes be another way of saying ‘promoting social uniformity’, in this sense it’s about strengthening dominant values and power structures. In fact, some young people openly express the desire to deconstruct existing systems of social relations (see the current Occupy movement). This could be essential before progress toward a more just and equitable society can be made - the demise of slavery provides a case in point.

In today’s world, self-determination and choice is largely regulated by market economics. The many choices we have often fall within a narrow bandwidth of extrinsic values which promote power, status, money... An example of this (which, in my opinion, reflects the experience of many youth sub-cultures) is the experience of North American Indians who were granted ownership of their own land to enable self-determination. On receiving owenership they were aggressively lobbied by casino conglomerates to ‘sell-out’ to big capital. This led to in-fighting disagreement and conflict within indian tribes. This mirrors the expectations of some young people, that all the choices currently on offer ultimately require you to sell-out.

When we talk about empowering self-determination and choice amongst young people (or other groups) there are a number of things we need to consider?  For example, what about collective and communal rights and responsibilities?  

We would benefit from having a broader vision which considers society as a whole. A broader vision will ensure that we locate the issue of urban youth within wider social narratives. It will help the group to maintain a holistic approach when looking at challenges and opportunities, seeing young people not as isolated homogenous groups living only in the present, but as diverse social beings acting within and influenced by their wider societies.  Without a broader vision there is the risk that:

·         We narrowly focus on young people ignoring the wider social frame and young people’s multiple identities.

·         We achieve outcomes for young people now whilst undermining broader goals, such as justice, peace, equity, trust, understanding and sustainable development.

A jokey example of the risks of narrowly focusing on youth is narrated in ‘Logans Run’ a novel which pictures a society where youth is all powerful, and people beyond the age of 35 are eliminated. There are, also, many examples in the real world, including: inter-generational tensions emerging from the tendency to hire and fast- track young employees at the expense of older staff - whilst initially empowering for young people this can create a negative feedback loop which is damaging for society as a whole. Another example would be the black-hole in international development funding for people who have recently left the official youth age group. Also, by focusing on youth we often imply that young people are the same, that they are a minority and that collectively they are oppressed / oppressors, involved / excluded - ignoring the myriad of other factors involved such as socio-economic status, ethnicity, access.

Urban Solutions Seminar video on Vimeo

...the music is 'Born On the 3rd Of July' from the album Live So Far - available here : http://music.stevelawson.net/album/live-so-far :)

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Magdalena Maria Zaborowska