What is the project about?

As part of the wider improvements for Camley street we are offering the opportunity for a group of local young women, girls and non-binary young people aged 16-25 to be hired, trained, and paid as Young Researchers-in-Residence over six weeks in June / July 2025.  The group will investigate their local areas with a particular focus on safety, and look at what design changes might improve the spaces for them and benefit the local community, particularly thinking about safety, lighting, wayfinding and public art. This project is run by Social Place, In Her Place, Camden Council, Ballymore and Lateral.
 

What will the Young Researchers do? 

You will principally work with Social Place but also the wider team behind the development of Camley Street. Through a learning programme you will be taught, about the built environment and how age, sex and gender and other identity markers and social realities impact on experiences of the places in which we live. You will also be taught various methods (sociological, planning-based and architectural) to research public space and your local area. You will then use this knowledge to reflect on your own experiences and investigate your local area and your own experiences to then make design recommendations based on those findings. 
There is no need for prior knowledge or design skills as we will be relying on your own personal experiences as well as the knowledge you have and develop during our time together.  
 

You will work alongside Social Place who are Julia King, who has trained as an architect, and Olivia Theocharides-Feldman, who has an anthropology and sociology background. You will also work with Susannah Walker from In Her Place. 

What is Camley Street?

Camley Street regeneration project will create a new mixed-use neighbourhood with homes and employment spaces with a focus on Life Sciences with employment and training for local residents. Improving public spaces is an important part of the brief, and safety is key to making this work. 
 

Requirements & Eligibility

The Young Researcher program will be structured over six weeks with breaks starting in June (flexible start date). You will commit to around 6 hours a week. 
 

These hours will be split into:

• Work carried out independently and flexibly at a time which suits you including 1) a weekly activity which will require you to visit a public space local to you or engage with maps, photos, or videos of said area (approx. 2 hours); 2) to watch, listen and read assigned content as part of your learning (approx. 2-3 hours).

• Work which will require that you be available at a set time for either a weekly 1 hour online meeting (flexible timing); or an in-person 2 hour session (eg. workshops, site visits etc).

• You will also need to be available to attend up to 2 community events in 2025, outside of the six-week period.

 

You will be hired on a short-term contract at Social Place and paid an hourly rate of £14 / hr. 
 

You must: be able to work in the UK; be aged 16+; identify as a woman, girl or gender non-binary; and live in or work/study in the Borough of Camden. You do not need any prior knowledge or design experience.

 

How to apply

Send a paragraph of no more than 500 words to Olivia (olivia@social-place.org) and Susannah (susannah@inherplace.co.uk) explaining why you want to do this project. We particularly welcome applications from backgrounds under-represented in architecture, design and planning (eg. global majority backgrounds (BAME), LGBTQIA+, those living with disabilities) and we invite you, should you feel comfortable, to inform us of these and any other social and demographic markers that you feel play a role in your experiences as a resident in the local area, or your experience in public space. We will ask shortlisted candidates to attend a short online interview.  
 

Please include:
1.    Your age
2.    Your gender identity / preferred pronouns
3.    Your postcode (or down to the first 5 digits/ sub-area) (*we want to ensure we are recruiting across the local area)
4.    Your current situation (for example working or not, studying or unpaid care responsibilities).
5.    Your living situation (with family, on own, in houseshare).
6.    Your regular modes of transport (eg. walking, cycling, cycle hire, mobility scooter, car, public transport (bus, tube, rail) etc.).
7.    Your housing type (eg. a flat in a block of flats; a flat in a high rise building; a semi-detached house; a flat conversion; a detached house etc.)