Thinking and creating space with children: a Terrestrial perspective

The inclusion of children in research gives rise to a difficult ethical question: What justifies children's research participation and exposure to research risks when they cannot provide informed consent? This question arises out of the tension between the moral requirement to obtain a subject's informed consent for research participation, on the one hand, and the limited capacity of most children to provide informed consent, on the other. Most agree that children's participation in clinical research can be justified. But the ethical justification for exposing children to research risks in the absence of consent remains unclear. One prevalent group of arguments aims to justify children's risk exposure by appealing to the concept of benefit. I call these ‘benefit arguments’. Prominent versions of this argument defend the idea that broadening our understanding of the notion of benefit to include non‐medical benefits (such as the benefit of a moral education) helps to justify children's research participation. I argue that existing benefit arguments are not persuasive and raise problems with the strategy of appealing to broader notions of benefit to justify children's exposure to research risk.

The involvement of young Indigenous people in research is a key emphasis in current approaches to both sociology of childhood and Indigenous research. This article discusses how the two research methodologies, both of which emphasise participation rights, intersect in research focusing on the participation and perspectives of Indigenous children and young people in education. The article examines ethical requirements of Indigenous and childhood research and institutional ethics procedures, along with methodological considerations, potential constraints and opportunities in undertaking research that aims to facilitate children and young people's participation. Drawing on empirical data it discusses how these processes have shaped participative research studying the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students learning Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in New South Wales schools.

New Horizons for the Journal: Familiar Landscapes in Child Protection

The aim of this study was to learn about and to describe retrospective perceptions of parents of the circumstances of their child's cancer diagnosis and of the informed consent process. Professional moderators conducted three focus groups with 22 parents of children with cancer who were eligible for enrollment in a Children's Cancer Group clinical trial research protocol. Each focus group consisted of seven to nine parents and was audiotaped and transcribed. Parents' descriptions of the early phase of their child's illness yielded the following themes: dialogues regarding the diagnosis and treatment options occurred amidst tremendous stress; a sense of constraint and lack of control were common; parents experienced variable degrees of choice regarding their child's participation in a clinical trial; and parents provided suggestions about how to improve the informed consent process. Overall, parents did not verbalize distinctions between their understanding of their child's medical treatment, research participation, and other aspects of their child's cancer experience. Based on these results, the authors conclude with practical recommendations for health care professionals caring for children with cancer and call for future research about parents' understanding of treatment options, the nature of clinical trials, and experience with the diagnostic and early treatment phase of childhood cancer with larger samples of parents from multiple sites.

The aim of this research is to contribute to a better understanding of the urban complexity of Chinese cities by reading and decoding their urban texture through the lens of contextuality in urban design. Experiences of western professionals in China show how important the question of contextuality, and therefore the factor of cultural sustainability in planning and city building, has become for successful long-term urban development. They also prove how much room for improvement of knowledge of non-Chinese experts there still is even though the Chinese market has been explored quite successfully by architects, urban designers, and city planners within the rapid process of Chinese urbanisation. This research is in the realm of the overarching question ‘What makes Chinese cities different from the ones European and North American observers are accustomed to?’. The research offers a critical look at the repeated evaluation of Chinese cities declaring that the large – so called global – cities of China have lost their “Chinese-ness” in the process of becoming global metropolises. This thesis attempts to account for the complexity and subtlety of the cultural realm in which the present research is set and in the attempt to do so, selected elements of the physical environment in China are analysed in order to focus on the assumed withdrawal of Chinese contextuality in the rapid urbanisation process. Through that, selected part of the Chinese urban physical built environment is examined and processed in order to make it readable and accessible for non-Chinese observers. The basis of this research is a case study-based urban hermeneutic research approach used to analyse the specifically selected city components in the seven largest Chinese cities. The data for the research has been generated during the field-work (photos, videos, expert conversations, architectural drawings, marketing/presentation materials [videos, renderings, brochures]); complimentary to that, primary and secondary literature review forms a crucial part of the body of research data. The selected cities and city components (city halls, CBDs, railway stations, including their spatial context within their respective cities) are decoded, analysing the architectural and urban semiotics traditionally used in the Chinese context, which is closely connected to the Chinese philosophy, building traditions, and contextuality (cultural, geographical, topographical, historical, just to name a few). Space in this research is approached not merely as a collection of all the physical objects that surround us but, following the core notions of Chinese philosophy, rather as a great whole, of which the physical is a part. Beauty can only be achieved through harmony (two of the most sought-after qualities in the Chinese culture); this ancient, holistic Chinese concept embraces and connects human interaction with the natural and man-made environment as equally important components. These concepts, mirrored and manifested in the built environment, compose a layer of the built space that is invisible to an unfamiliar observer. The intangibles of space have been at the fundament of the Chinese city-building and architectural doctrines for millennia. The present research touches upon this deep cultural embeddedness and, since the built environment is a major vehicle for cultural messages and symbolism, tries to make these connections more legible for a non-Chinese observer. Moreover, by showing the links to ancient, rich culture, the dissertation challenges the notion of omnipresent globalisation that razes local contexts; a claim that is not only brought up in the context of Chinese urbanisation but across the world where rapid city development is taking place. The approaches and the selection of cases presented in this research can only be understood as a start of – or a contribution to – a significantly more advanced research in understanding Chinese cities. For a true understanding of the challenges and the complexity of the Chinese built environment, a bridge between the Chinese and the non-Chinese needs to be strengthened so that the vast knowledge gaps could be transgressed. This dissertation strives to provide not only a perspective for further future research approaches but also a different angle on conducting urban research in culturally significantly different spatial settings.

The protection and rights of children is a worldwide concern. Globally most countries have agreed to minimum standards for child participation, protection, and provision of basic needs. Yet, it is recognised that children in low through to high income countries often are left unprotected from a violation of rights. Many factors influence the care and protection of children such as political, economic and social stability, along with prevailing values. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the most widely used document. A comparable document from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam (OICCRCI), provides a faith based perspective on the care and protection of children. The government of Negara Brunei Darussalam is a signatory to both these documents and has various policies and aspirations to support children. Brunei has a strong Islamic ethos and unique culture. These factors shape childhood in Brunei, yet examinations of its impact have received little attention in the academic literature. A review of literature located studies on Bruneian history, culture, legal systems, education systems, and special needs policies. However, children had low visibility in the studies, suggesting the need for research that captured their experiences. This thesis examines children’s lived experiences in Brunei, providing an avenue for Bruneian children’s voices to enter academic narratives. Specifically, it explores how the Brunei Government’s child protection policies and principles are reflected in the everyday experiences of children. Diverse groups of Bruneian children participated in the research. Children have distinct vulnerabilities, which differ from the realities experienced by adults. Including their voices in research is necessary to develop understandings of the lived experiences of children. Interviews were undertaken with children living in Brunei, including both citizens and non-citizens. Children were recruited from a variety of contexts including, schools, religious programs, juvenile justice and child protection systems. Parents of children with special needs, and parents who adopted a child were also interviewed, as were practitioners and teachers. The adults in the study were interviewed for their specialist knowledge of working within, or experiencing, governmental systems relating to child wellbeing. 112 children, 16 practitioners and 11 parents participated in the research. Their accounts were thematically analysed. Results are discussed within the context of literature, child participation and prevailing child rights documents. Children described their lives at home, in institutions and at school. While differing in intensity, common themes were identified across the distinct case groups. Examples include, adult-child relationships, lived religion, feelings of safety, gender, issues of statelessness, feelings of inclusion, violence, truancy and the influence of friends. Three groups of children were recognised as having their rights infringed; children with special needs, non-citizens and females. There are disparities between the experiences of children in Brunei, with Muslim-Malay citizen children more likely to benefit from government policies. Bruneian children are protected by both formal and informal child protection measures identified throughout the data. In some instances, informal practices ensured positive outcomes for children, however a lack of monitoring may place children at risk. This thesis adds to the body of literature on child protection and participation in Muslim-majority contexts. To deepen understandings of child protection in Brunei, literature was reviewed on the influence of Islamic teachings in caring for children. Literature was reviewed focussing on Islamic teachings and their lived application. This guided the study in explorations of adoption, discipline techniques, child marriage, and duties between parents and children in Brunei. The approach used can be adapted for research on the rights of citizen and non-citizen children in other Muslim-majority contexts. Improving understandings of the realities of children in Islamic contexts, will improve responses to enhance child wellbeing. This thesis sits within a growing body of literature which challenges Islamophobic discourses which, have been harmful in Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts. Throughout, there is a focus on where Islamic and Western concepts of child wellbeing converge. Areas of convergence represent areas where effective work with children can occur, supported by child rights practice, and congruent with religious norms. Divergences between Western and Islamic thought represent areas where dialogue can occur to further understand both positions, and work towards acting within in the best interests of the Muslim child.

Abstract: This research examined the barriers to young people's participation as strategic stakeholders in the formulation of public policy, using the formulation of Ghana's youth policy as a case study. The aim was to gain knowledge about the processes that facilitate or hinder young people's participation in the policy process at national level. The study involved the use of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 20 stakeholders in the policy process. Findings showed discrepancy in the attitudes and behaviour of policy makers towards young people. For example, on one hand policy-makers recognised young people's right to participate but on the other hand they did not seek to involve young people in the policy process. This paper presents a number of factors contributing to this discrepancy and how to overcome them. The paper concludes that to effectively involve young people in the formulation of public policies young people must possess and exercise democratic franchise.Keywords: Youth Participation, Ghana, Policy Formulation, Barriers to ParticipationIntroductionCitizenry participation in the process of formulating and implementing public policies is considered to be a major pillar of good governance (McFerson, 2009 cited in Kpessa, 2011). There is therefore a continued emphasis on the need to promote public participation in the policy process (Gyimah-Boadi, 2004; Harrold, 2000). Research into citizenry participation in the policy process has however focussed on adults and civil society organisations (Kpessa, 2011). This study focused on children and young people's participation in the policy process. It is hoped that the study would shed more light on children and young people's participation in policymaking. The paper used the formulation of Ghana's national youth policy as a case study to outline the barriers to involving young people in public policymaking. The first section of the paper is devoted to outlining the barriers to young people's participation, while the second section looks at overcoming the barriers. The findings of the study strongly suggest that 15-17 year olds have more commonalities with adults, in terms of their desire to be included in governance systems. The study urges policy-makers and politicians to re-think teenagers and politics and realise that young people are not disinterested in policy-making.Problem StatementAlthough there are increasing efforts to involve youth (broadly defined) in development processes, those at the lower end of youth definition (i.e., 15-17 year olds) are still often excluded. This has resulted in a 'research deficit' on 15-17 year olds; for they are not generally considered children so they are excluded from childhood research (usually between 5-14 years) and they are also not considered adults hence excluded from adulthood research (usually 18+ years). The overwhelming majority of literature on children's participation reflect research either in family decision-making including divorce cases, children in State's care-child protection or looked after children's care planning and reviews (e.g., Kassan, 2004; Fitzgerald, 2009; Eriksson and Nasman, 2008; Thomas and O'Kane, 1999; Gunn, 2005; 2008) or on children's involvement in school decision-making (e.g., Cox et al., 2010; Ochaita and Espinosa, 1997; Veitch, 2009). A few researchers have looked at children's participation in health (e.g., Vis et al., 2010), environment (Horelli, 1998) and in public sphere at the municipal/local level (e.g., Williams, 2004; Fanelli et al., 2007).Evidence of children's participation at national and/or international level is very limited. Perhaps this is not surprising, given that the most difficult area to assess the impact of children's participation is public policy (Williams, 2005; Shier, 2001). Kirby and Bryson (2002) have noted that in spite of the growing attempt to involve young people in public decision-making, research and evaluation of such efforts is lacking. …

This article explores the efficacy of using photographic participatory research methods among vulnerable groups, specifically vulnerable children and young people. Innovative methods, such as visual participatory techniques can help children who might otherwise be left out of research studies that could have important consequences for their lives, and the lives of their families. The reason for their omission from such studies lies precisely in their vulnerability – their lives are often difficult and painful and, in empirical terms, these children are hard to reach and often do not have the necessary verbal skills and confidence to take part in conventional qualitative methods that use, for example, interview techniques. Drawing on photographic research evidence from children and young people themselves, this article explores the ways in which the participation of children in visual research studies can help to transform children's life experiences.

Following an examination of the elevated highway’s diagrammatic and machinic qualities and its evocation as a cinematic sensorium (Robertson, 2007) the chapter will look at how architectural drawings, and the way they are interpreted, construct mobility in certain ways. The relationships and dependencies of graphic representations and lived experiences are examined as well as the shifting and accumulating discourses that arise between the drawn intention and realised design. Attempts have been made to represent the experience of driving through a development of notations (Appleyard et al., 1964), analogous with the role of Labanotation in dance choreography, in the context of the design of highways. In this chapter I will consider the paradoxes inherent in both the diagrammatic conceptualisations of future motorised cities and the representations of the experience of driving in the city that were developed at key moments when speed and technology were celebrated (see Dimendberg, 1995), for example, the development of motorways in England in the 1970s (Merriman, 2006). These will be compared with subsequent changes in focus to walking from urban designers such as Gordon Cullen and his ‘serial vision’ (Cullen, 1961) of experiencing the city (Gosling, 1996) and the evocative responses to, and mapping of, urban journeys as discussed by psychogeographers (Self, 1993).KeywordsHistorical MonumentUrban HighwayIdeal CityArchitectural DrawingElevated RoadThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The potential scope of children's participation in China is enormous, with one-fifth of the world's population there. Processes of economic and social change in China over the past two decades have opened up new opportunities for children's participation, but have increased pressures on children's time. Welfare and educational systems are changing a step behind the pace of economic reform and its consequent increasing inequalities. Traditional ideas of childhood, in particular children's subservience to adults, have continued despite shifts in the social environment, and mitigate against children's participation, which has continued to be largely understood as performance or activity. Promotion of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by international non-government organizations in partnership with government in the 1990s drew attention to participation. Since the turn of the century, more possibilities for participation and more projects have been initiated, including children's research and the founding of an independent organization by children and young people.

This article explores how privileges, identities and worldviews influence every stage of childhood research processes. By using the ‘windows and mirrors’ and ‘the danger of the single story’ metaphors, I seek to deconstruct reflexivity and positionality in order to include different lenses of analysis for exploring how power and privileges inform the relationship between researchers and child participants. I argue that this reflexive process needs to pay greater attention to the intersection between identities, inequalities and power, to the impact of researchers feeling sympathy for the marginalised status of the child participant and to the normative and dominant positions that researchers might have based on their social standing. Drawing from my international fieldwork experience, I conclude that an understanding of how identities, power and privileges affect childhood research is critical for conducting ethical research, negotiating power with child participants and dismantling researchers’ privileges.

People in neighborhoods across the world, come up with creative ways to satisfy their daily needs through sharing and collaboration, by creating alternative solutions that are resourceful and socially engaging. These creative communities based on sharing, provide local solutionsthrough a more substantial use of human, environmental, and economic resources. Since the mid-2000s, sharing and collaborative practices have received increased attentionmainly because of socio-economic rapid changes within cities and the wider use of online services. This thesis recognizes sharing culture as a potential pathway towards more inclusive and environmentally sustainable societies and identifies three main lines of inquiry based on research areas that necessitate further investigation. The first line of inquiry relates to the semantics and value of sharing culture. The rise of sharing economy has led to an ideologicalcontestation over the meaning of sharing, placing under the same umbrella contradicting practices and thus demanding further examination. The second line of inquiry aims toinvestigate how sharing practices emerge and evolve over time, what challenges they face,and identify transitional pathways towards sharing culture. Finally, and most importantly, the third line of inquiry seeks to identify spatial patterns of sharing culture. Within the fields of sharing culture, collaboration, and urban commons, the relationship between space and sharing practices within urban contexts has been studied from sociological, political, andgeographical perspectives. Nevertheless, there is room for further investigation from an architectural and urban design perspective, on how sharing practices emerge in urban neighborhoods and how space influences them. Specifically, this thesis aims to uncover spatial patterns on three distinct spatial scales: building, threshold, and urban. On the building scale, spatial patterns are explored regarding the relationship between the practices and the spaces they occupy; on the threshold scale, spatial patterns that relate to the interaction between the practice and the broader community; while on the urban scale, patterns of urbandynamics, land use, exposure, and local networks are investigated regarding the practices’ locale. Along these three lines of inquiry, this dissertation offers four main contributions. The first one is a theoretical framework of sharing culture identifying: a taxonomy of how it can embedin everyday life, the value it brings to both communities and individuals, and the ways that sharing practices can amplify their impact by scaling-from-within. This framework wasdeveloped through a semi-systematic literature review on sharing, combined with findings from fieldwork, and by using Max-Neef ’s model of human needs’ satisfaction.The second contribution is building an interdisciplinary research framework to study sharing culture and reveal its spatial patterns through a situated approach, which synthesizes methods from social sciences and theories of practice, architecture, urban design and planning.Specifically, the research framework proposes a combination of qualitative analysis of participants interviews and online documents, with observations, architectural drawings, and extensive cartography to study spatial conditions across all three scales. The third contribution is the application of the interdisciplinary research framework onsharing culture practices in London, UK, and Athens, Greece, resulting in four in-depth case studies with thick description and spatial findings across all three scales: building, threshold, and urban. The findings from the case studies are further substantiated by additional literature review on theories of social change, transition design, and sharing practices to create the fourth and last contribution of this thesis: a series of actionable spatial patterns. The spatial patterns of sharing culture showcase – both in a descriptive and propositional manner – spatial conditions that enable sharing culture. They aim to prompt designers and communities to view sharing practices through a spatial lens and help them leverage space as a catalyst for sharing culture.

Participation in all aspects of life is a right of children. However, in high-income countries, children with developmental disabilities (DD) are not afforded the same participation as their peers with typical development (TD). This can affect their life experiences and academic success. For children with DD, most of whom live in low- and middle–income countries (LMIC), understanding of how patterns of participation differ from their peers with TD is limited, which impacts how they are included in the classroom. This study described research on the participation of children with DD and their peers with TD in LMIC. A scoping review was conducted for studies on the participation of children with DD and their peers with TD from LMIC, using established assessments. Sixteen studies from eight middle-income countries were identified. These studies suggested that decreased participation for children with DD in comparison to their peers with TD was prevalent. Overall, the participation of children with DD and their peers with TD followed a similar pattern in the LMIC countries to that in high-income countries, with children with DD having lower participation in physical, social and skill-based activities, suggesting that the participation of children may follow universal patterns.

The chapter aims to examine the impact of urban planning and design on the developing world. Urban planning and design have become increasingly important due to changes occurring in global development. This chapter seeks to explore the significance of urban planning and design in the growth and development of sustainable urban centres. Particular emphasis was given to urban centres in the developing world. Urban planning and urban design are different but closely related disciplines that strive to create sustainable towns and cities. Urbanisation has brought with it challenges that most developing countries, such as Zimbabwe are not equipped to handle. There has been a high rate of urbanisation both in terms of the increase of population in cities and the spread of development in urban areas. This has been accompanied by problems, such as overpopulation, overcrowding, shortages of resources and the growth of slum settlements. The projected 50–70% increase in the urban population by 2050 has revealed the importance of urban planning and design in catering for growing populations, especially those in Africa and Asia. Data for this chapter was collected from primary and secondary sources, such as population statistics, reports, journals and the Regional Town and Country Planning Act. Other data was collected through interviews from practicing town planners and observations from existing urban infrastructure in Zimbabwe. The data collected reveals that some countries and their cities have adapted to urbanisation and its accompanying challenges. Zimbabwe has attempted to adopt urban policies from first world countries. The adoption in Zimbabwe of some aspects of urban policies is practicable, but it is not feasible in other facets since the resources and immediate problems are not the same and there are different ways of dealing with them. It is critical for developing countries to seriously consider urban planning and design to come up with contemporary designs that are resilient to current urban challenges. Contemporary urban planning and urban design should centre on marginalised and disadvantaged areas that are constantly being left out in the planning arena.

Studies demonstrate deficiencies in parents' and children's comprehension of research and lack of child engagement in research decision-making. We conducted a cross-sectional and interview-based study of 31 parent-child dyads to describe decision-making preferences, experiences, and comprehension of parents and children participating in research. Parents and children reported that parents played a greater role in decisions about research participation than either parents or children preferred. The likelihood of child participation was associated with the extent of input the parent permitted the child to have in the decision-making process, the child's comprehension, whether the study team asked the child about participation, whether the child read study-related materials, the parent's marital status, and the child's race. Children had lower comprehension than adults. Comprehension was related to age, education, verbal intelligence, and reading of study-related information. Parent understanding was associated with prospect for benefit and illness severity. Child participation may be improved by increasing parent-child communication, emphasizing important relational roles between parent and child, respecting the developing autonomy of the child, increasing engagement with the study team, providing appropriate reading materials, and assessing comprehension.