A Place for Us, Essex
(Places for Girls and Gender Diverse Young People (x3)
This series of projects includes three different projects working in three schools in Chelmsford, Broomfield, and Maldon, Essex, and was run in collaboration with Make Space for Girls charity. It saw to working with individuals who identify as girls, young women, trans-men and gender diverse young people over multiple weeks to explore their experiences of and design suggestions for a series of public spaces in their local areas which have received allocated funding to take some of their visions forward. Each site has had a different focus: an urban park in Chelmsford; a local green space in Broomfield; and a skatepark in Maldon.
Themes: Engagement, Design
Project team: Social Place (Julia and Olivia) with Make Space for Girls; and funded by the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
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These projects together engage 39 young people to reflect on their experiences, and feelings around their local areas and in turn, to work with them to come up with design solutions.
The aims have been to :
(1) work with three Essex schools to empower and explore with young women and gender diverse people (the participants) how they use the public realm and what changes they propose to make specific local parks more welcoming to them.
(2) use those findings to inform and influence local decision-makers practically and strategically, placing the participants’ voices at the centre of reporting and presenting their work.
(3) create bespoke and lasting (physical) interventions in each site, and celebrate and publicise the participants’ work.
In Chelmsford, this project explored with 12 young people aged 13-14 who identified as women, trans men, and non-binary how Central Park, Chelmsford could become a more inclusive place for more young people. Through a series of six workshops delivered in the Spring term 2024 at Boswells School, we worked with participants to focus on "a space I would use".
In Broomfield, this project explored with 12 young people who identified as women, how their local green space of Angel Meadow could become a more welcoming space for them. Through a series of six workshops delivered in the Spring term 2024 at Chelmer Valley School, we worked with participants to focus on "a space for me".
In Maldon, this project explored with 15 young people who identified as women, how the local green space, Promenade Park, particularly the space around and in the skatepark, could become a better space for teenage girls. Over three intensive workshopping days in the Summer term of 2024 at Plume Academy High School, we worked with participants to focus on "a space I would enjoy".
These projects stem from a context in which research shows that many young people, particularly young women and gender diverse young people, do not feel welcome, comfortable, or safe in public space and do not have a say when it comes to their local areas.
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A 2022 Girlguiding Survey shows that over 80% of girls and young women feel unsafe when they are out alone
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Work by the YWL in Scotland in 2021 found that only 20% of girls and young women in Glasgow felt very comforable in the park that they chose to use
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A 2018 Stonewall report revealed that more than 2 in 5 trans people wholly avoid certain streets due to fear
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Research by Grosvenor in 2021 indicates that 89% of young adults aged 16-18 have never been consulted about their local areas
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In our own research at the LSE we found that: 63% of young men regularly used parks compared to only 31% of young women
These disparities matter– they signal that many girls, young women, and gender diverse young people's right to enjoy the benefits of public space are not being exercised. This project seeks to address this reality by working with young people, particularly those groups of young people that often tend to be left out of provisioning in order to suggest design, programming, and social changes for their local areas. Together, these three projects form an important evidence base for the local area and the needs of a diverse range of young people. Their interventions, which do not match the typical youth provisioning, will serve as inspiration to inform a series of public space provisioning in each local area.
Read more about our findings in our reports!
"To me, personally as a transgender man, I often feel fearful walking in the streets."
Young man, Essex
"To walk past a skatepark and see that its filled with men and boys deters and intimidates me from using that space even though I skate"
Young woman, Essex
"As a Muslim woman who wears a headscarf, sometimes I feel uncomfortable like there are people who are judging me"
Young woman, Essex
Our outputs
Chelmsford – Exploring Central Park, Chelmsford
June 2024
This report summarises the work with 12 young people aged 13-14 exploring what interventions in Central Park would make the park more welcoming to them.
It will form part of the local evidence base to inform developers and planners in Chelmsford when considering how coherent networks of open public space can provide for informal sport, recreation, leisure, and community spaces that are more inclusive of more young people.
Maldon – Exploring Promenade Park, Maldon
September 2024
This report reflects the views of 15 young women aged 13-14 on what would make Maldon’s Promenade Park in general, and the area in and around the skatepark in particular, more welcoming to teenage girls.
Broomfield– Exploring Angel Meadow, Broomfield
July 2024 (report forthcoming)
Chelmsford
This project explored with 12 young people aged 13-14 who identified as women, trans men, and non-binary young people how Central Park, Chelmsford could become a more inclusive place for more young people. Through a series of six workshops delivered in the Spring term 2024 at Boswells School, we worked with participants to focus on "a space I would use". Through the workshops the participants developed three criteria, safety, inclusivity, and social against which they assessed whether a space was "a space I would use". Following their own spatial assessment of their local area, they worked together to propose design and programming interventions that would touch on these themes and make the park feel like "a space I would use".
Please refer to our report for more detail
Project partners: Students and staff at Boswells School; Chelmsford City Council; Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner; Essex Police Children and Young Persons Officer; Active Essex
Maldon
This project explored with 15 young people who identified as women, how their local green space of Promenade Park, Maldon – and particularly the area in and around the existing skatepark– could become a more welcoming space for them and other young women. Through three intensive days of workshopping delivered in the Summer term 2024 at Plume Academy High School, we worked with participants to focus on "a space I would enjoy". Through the workshops the participants identified that significant changes were needed in and around the skatepark to make this space an inviting one for them. Following their spatial assessment of their local area, they worked together to propose design and programming interventions that would address their sense of inclusion and make this part of the park feel like "a space I would enjoy."
Please refer to our report for more details
Project partners: Cassie Bertrand, Students and staff at Plume Academy High School; Maldon District Council; Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner; Active Essex
Broomfield
This project explored with 12 young people who identified as women, how their local green space of Angel Meadow could become a more welcoming space for them. Through a series of six workshops delivered in the Spring term 2024 at Chelmer Valley School, we worked with participants to focus on "a space for me". Through the workshops the participants developed three criteria, affordability, the feeling of safety, and judgement which they used to assess whether a space felt as though it was for them. Following their own spatial assessment of their local area, they worked together to propose design and programming interventions that would touch on these themes and make the park feel like "a space for me."
Please refer to our report for more details (forthcoming)
Project partners: Students and staff at Chelmer Valley School; Chelmsford County Council; Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner; Active Essex