comprehensive 1 - using mapping to engage youth in planning and governance- old method, new tool...

8/6/2019 Comprehensive 1 - Using Mapping to Engage Youth in Planning and Governance- Old Method, New Tool (March 10,

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Running head: MAPPING AND YOUTH IN PLANNING

Using Mapping to Engage youth in Planning and Governance: Old Method, New Tool

Doug Ragan

University of Colorado

Comprehensive Exam Paper Number One


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MAPPING AND YOUTH IN PLANNING 2

!

Simply put, GIS is the language of planning power. It controls what constitutes

legitimate data, shapes the form of public debate, and changes the way neighborhood

organizations think about community issues (Dennis, 2006, p. 2042).

In this paper, I will explore whether, due to the advancement of geo-spatial

technologies, children and youth have increased their ability to engage in the planning of

their communities. A comparison made will be between earlier forms of mapping such

as drawn and hand-sketched maps (Al-Zoabi, 2001; Amsden & Van Wynsberghe 2005;

Blanchet-Cohen, 2006; Driskell, 2002; Hart, 1979; Lynch, 1979; Amsden, Ao, Hu, Elliot

& Tupechka, Ragan, 2003) and rapidly developing geo-spatial technologies and programs

such as GIS and Open Street Maps (Clifford, 2010; Dennis, 2006; Environmental Youth

Alliance, 2003; Gerson, 2007; Hooberman, 2008; Horelli & Kaaja, 2002; Lifecycles,

2008; Lozano, Grandados & Herrera, 2005; Mccall, 2003; TakingITGlobal, 2006; UN-

HABITAT, 2011). To do this comparison, I will review the well-documented challenges

that youth1

face when engaging in urban planning and governance, both developmentally

as well as systemically. Research suggests that children and youth are not hindered by

their own development and have spatial competencies at a young age (Blaut, Stea,

Spencer & Blades, 2003), which would suggest that they are able to combine these

competencies to participate in complex governance systems (Dennis, 2006; Checkoway,

2003; Gurstein et al, 2003; Blanchet-Cohen & Ragan, 2006). I will look at the systemic

issues faced by youth, specifically looking at how planners and local governments may

want to engage this demographic, yet are blocked from doing so due to lack of resources,

methodologies, and a lack of understanding of what children and youth may bring to the

planning process (Gurstein et al, 2003; Driskell, 2002; Chawla et al., 2005; Checkoway,

2003). Additionally, when youth are engaged, they are often mobilized to further

someone else's agenda rather receiving the recognition and respect to develop their own

agenda and make their own decisions (Hart, 1997; Ragan & Wilkinson, 2009).

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

When referencing youth I am referring to the internationally recognized age range of

15-24. Though there is little research done on spatial abilities in youth as per my definition, I will

use in-the-field examples to demonstrate those capacities.


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One of the most common methods used to engage youth in planning processes is

mapping (Hart, 1979; Driskell, 2002; Amsden et al, 2003). Mapping as an activity has

been used in many different ways with children and youth. For example, Driskell focuses

on behavioral mapping; a systematic observation technique for documenting the use

of specific space of location (Driskell, 2002, p. 134). Mapping is most often seen in this

context, either as a research method and/or as a tool to engage children and youth,

allowing them to explore and learn about their local environment. The final product

most often a paper mapis generally not included in, nor has any impact on, formal

planning processes. Dennis (2006) argues that qualitative representations (p. 2050)

contained within hand drawn maps, photographs, or verbal presentations could allow

youth equal access to the planning process, but this has not yet been done. From the

literature it is clear that maps are important in engaging youth in planning, and digital

maps even more so, yet the ability of Global Information Systems (GIS) to include

qualitative data has been elusive.

Over the past five years, mapping methods have been enhanced through the

development of new online mapping technologies and programs such as Google Earth,

open source mapping programs, and even interactive video games, to a point where maps

can represent more qualitative datafrom audio to video to actual linkages directly to

locationsand these new forms of maps can more easily be created and integrated into

planning processes (Tsai & Van Wart, 2010; Mallan, 2010)3. Many youth have

competence and mastery of these geo-spatial tools, and are able to learn and utilize the

language of planning power (Dennis, 2006, p. 2042). The mastery of geo-spatial tools

allows them to advance their competency as community decision makers, sensitize them

to the assets and needs of the community, and through this increased competency become

a critical player in affecting community change (Chawla & Heft, 2003). This increase in

competency with mapping allows youth to advance their development, and to become a

little taller (Sabo, 2003; Vygotsky, 1978; Ragan & Wilkinson, 2009).

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3

It is important to note that the field of mapping is moving very rapidly, with new

programs being developed almost daily. The qualities that are improving with each new program

are in the area of ease of use, access to, and creation of more mapped data, and the move to

cheaper technologies such as mobile phones. . This has allowed more groups with limited

resources, such as those in the developing world, to fully utilize and gain the benefits of mapping.


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In this paper, I will explore how mapping has increased the potential of youth to

engage in planning and governance through reviewing the history of youth participation

in planning and governance, the competencies of youth to do so, and how mapping

practically facilitates this engagement. The paper is organized in four sections: Context

and HistoryYouth Participation in Governance; Promise and Practicalities of

Participation; Youth Competency in Urban Planning; Spatial Capacity and Mapping;

Mapping Using Geo-location Technologies. This paper will help to lay the groundwork

for a better understanding of the use of maps in the process of engaging youth in urban

planning and enhance their ability to affect change.

Context and HistoryYouth Participation in Governance

There has been a slow yet growing awareness by governments internationally,

especially within the developing world, of the right of children and youth to participate in

decisions that directly affect them. This right is reflected in international declarations

such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child4, the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development and the United Nations Conference on Human

Settlements (UN, 1989; 1992; 1997). These documents reflect not only a recognition of

the rights of youth to participate, but that they can do so at the local level. Whether it is

their right to be engaged in decisions about the local environment and/or their role in

local governance, governments have recognized that youth have a significant impact

locally (UN, 1989; 1992; 1997). Below is a table that shows the different rights and

responsibilities attributed to youth.

!"#$%&'(&)*+,%-&.",+/*01&2%3$"4",+/*1&/*&5/6,701&8/$%&9/3"$$:

Agency Convention Locality reference

UN General Assembly

(1989)

Convention on the Rights of

the Child

Article 12

Convention states that children have a

right to a voice in decisions that concer

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4

The CRC deals only with youth from 1517. There are no conventions that deal

with 1825 year olds.


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them (Article 12) and, specifically in th

context, to decisions that affect their

physical environments.

UNEP (1992) United Nations Conference

on Environment and

Development

Chapter 25

Youth comprise nearly 30% of the

world's population. The involvement o

today's youth in environment and

development decision-making and in th

implementation of programs is critical t

the long-term success of Agenda 21.

UN-HABITAT (1997) HABITAT Agenda Paragraph 120

In order to develop the full potential of

young people and prepare them to take

responsible role in the development of

human settlements

Paragraph 13:

The needs of children and youth,particularly with regards to their living

environment, have to be taken fully into

account.

These agreements suggest that youth and those working to engage them should

utilize tools and methodssuch as mappingto increase youths ability to engage

locally. The trend also suggests that the improvement of these tools would increaseyouths ability to engage in local planning processes, and possibly effect positive change

in their communities. The recognition of this local competence has special significance

to the developing world, where the majority of the populations are under the age of 30

(UN-HABITAT, 2007). In the developing world, youth are often viewed negatively and

blamed for the violence and instability that is prevalent in developing countries with


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weak and corrupt government structures (NIC, 2008; Cincotta, 2005). This negativism

can be combated if there are improved tools and methods for the engagement of youth in

governance: tools that would better bring to fruition the capacities of youth as recognized

by agencies such as the World Bank, which stated that this demographic youth bulge in

the developing world is a window of opportunity, and that youth will lead the way in

advancing the development of these countries (World Bank, 2007, p. 4).

Promise and Practicalities of Participation

Even with the recognition of the rights of children and youth to be engaged at the

local level, the practice of engagement does not often meet the needs of the youth, nor of

those who are engaging them such as local governments, NGOs, or research agencies. A

study done in 2003 with key informants from 31 cities in the Province of British

Columbia, Canada, found that those charged with engaging youth in cities found it

difficult to coordinate the many different municipal departments that engage youth; there

was a lack of funding, resources, and time; youth were often not able to engage in long-

term processes; and youth lacked an understanding of how municipal processes work

(Power, 2003). Youth on the other hand often find that government officials are not

responsive (Horelli, 1998; Corsi, 2002); and tend to feel that the municipal bureaucracy

treats them tokenistically within participatory processes (Gurstein, 2002). Driskell (as

cited in Chawla et al., 2005) found in Growing up in Cities programs that

the biggest challenge has been developing inroads and alliances with local leaders

and planners to effect change beyond the most immediate scope of the projects

work . . . I think this has been due in part to the fact that many project leaders

have been researchers or other professionals who were inexperienced at political

lobbying and change processes. Thus, while efforts have been made to go from

research into action, the actions themselves have been relatively limited. (p. 73)

Yet if researchers and practitioners believe that children and youth are experts on

their own environments (Bartlett, 2005, p.2), or, as Chawla states, that children and

youth are not only a population with special needs but also one with special energies and

insights that they can bring to the process of human settlements development (Chawla,


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2001, p. 12), then how does one overcome the aforementioned barriers and access young

peoples expertise for the betterment of the community? In presentations I often use the

example of my son taking me for the first time on a bike trip to his school, and his

extensive knowledge of the dangers and pitfalls of getting there, for example saving me

from hitting the big crack in the sidewalk. Yet, unless I am physically with my son, or

unless there is a specific program tailored to engage him in planning, there is no way for

him to express his localized knowledge to a planner or someone in the city who can deal

with those dangerous cracks. I believe that youth can be heard, and these dangerous

cracks fixed, through youth gaining mastery of geo-spatial technologies, which as

described by Dennis (2006), is the language of planning power.

There are a number of questions that need to be answered to substantiate this

supposition. First, we need to understand whether youth have reached the developmental

level to comprehend spatial issues. Can they create, read, and interpret a map? These

questions are important because without this basic ability to comprehend, other ways

have to be found to engage youth in urban planning issues. The next important question

is at what stage youth are developmentally mature enough to understand and engage in

complex political systems. As referenced earlier in the British Columbia study, often

adults do not believe that youth can participate in these systems. Is this non-participation

due to their inability to engage, or adults unwillingness to facilitate their participation?

The following sections explore these questions with the goal of determining whether

mapping as facilitated by new technologies can enable youth to engage in urban planning.

Youth Competency in Urban Planning

A key question in regards to the engagement of youth in local government is

whether youth have the capacity to be engaged in planning processes. This question can

be looked at in two parts: first, whether developmentally children and youth canunderstand planning concepts such as the creation and interpretation of spatial data, and

secondly, whether they can understand the social and political context of planning itself.

As mentioned, Blaut and Stea (1971) have demonstrated that children from a young age

are able to create and interpret maps and spatial data: data that are key to the

understanding and participating in planning processes. There has been less definitive


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work in the area of the political or civic capacity of youth, though there is a body of

anecdotal evidence that suggests that young people are unable to engage in these

processes, which gives rise to the question of whether this is due to adults believing youth

incapable, blocking them from involvement, or whether it truly is the case that youth are

incapable of it (Checkoway, 2003; Driskell, Kanchan & Chawla, 2001; EYA, 2003;

Gerson, 2007; Gurstein, Lovato & Ross, 2003; Horellis and Kaaja, 2002; UN, 2002a;

UN, 2002b).

Children develop spatial skills from a young age, with children as young as four

having basic mapping skills such as the ability to simple maps, understand aerial maps,

and solve simple navigational problems (Blaut & Stea, 1971; Blaut, 1987). Children

demonstrate these skills in the developed as well as in the developing world, suggesting

that a basic mapping ability is universalnot bound to culture or society (Blaut et al.,

2003; Al-Zoabi, 2001; Matthews, 1995). As a practitioner who has worked with youth in

the developing world, I have found that youth are able to understand spatial concepts and

create maps (UN-HABITAT, 2008), and there have been many examples of youth

undertaking mapping processes that have had an impact (Amsden & Van Wynsberghe,

2005; Blanchet-Cohen, 2006; Gerson, 2007; Hurley, Presland, and Taylor; 2007; Lozano,

Granados, & Herrera, 2005; Lifecycles, 2008; Wridt, 2010).

Based on the ability of young children to depict their community in drawings and

other forms, some researchers have conjectured that maps are as important to humans as

language, music, art, and mathematics (Sobel, 1998). Maps have also been recognized as

an excellent medium for young people to express themselves about the physical and

social relationships between organisms and their environment (Lynch, 1971; Hart, 1997).

Youth demonstrate an ability to map and understand not only physical spaces, but

also the social relationships embedded within those spaces. The mapping of physical andsocial relationships by youth is not new; Lynch (1979) combined mapping of the physical

community with the identification of significant relationships, which allowed for a

comparison of the different forms and qualities of relationships between the different

study sites.


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Many other researchers have found that youth define their neighborhoods through

a social lens, describing elements such as their friends and where they can be with them,

and adult allies or those who are not (Hart, 1979; Talen & Coffindaffer, 1999). One

GUIC practitioner working in South Africa found that children do not divorce human

relationships from their sense of their local environment (as cited in Chawla et al., 2005,

p. 61). What this research suggests is that relationships can be mapped and that young

people are able to understand and map these relationships.

Mcknight and Kretzman (1996) further expanded our understanding of the

relationship between communities and environment through their Asset Based

Community Development (ABCD) methodology. This methodology is based on the

belief that individual, community, and institutional relationshipsor assetsare the

primary building blocks of community sustainability (Kretzman & McKnight, 1993).

Participants are given the task of mapping their assets, which are then used in a

community development process. Mcknight and Kretzmanns basic tenet is that an assets

mapping approach empowers the community, allowing citizens to identify and mobilize

their assets to create positive change within themselves and their communities. The

assets based approach is opposite to the approach that focuses on a community's needs,

deficiencies, and problems in which citizens are left with a plethora of unmet needs,

without an identification of capacities and assets.

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&

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;+


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Figure 1 represents the three types of assets identified within the Asset Based

Community Development process:

! Individual assetsskills and capacities of citizens.! Community assetscitizens associations such as churches, culture groups, clubs.! Institutional assets businesses, schools, libraries, community colleges.The assets mapped in figure 1 are inventoried through a process where community

members are brought together to affect positive change in their community by identifyingtheir assets in the above three categories (Mcknight & Kretzman, 1996).

In the late 1990s, organizations began to expand upon Mckight and Kretzmans

(1996) work and develop a community asset based process that combined the cognitive

mapping of Mcknight and Kretzman with the mapping process developed by researchers


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such as Lynch (1997) and revised subsequently by Chawla (2001/2002), and Driskell

(2002). This new process, called Community Asset Mapping, allowed youth to map both

the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of their assets (Amsden et al. 2003; Amsden

& Van Wynsberghe, 2005; Blanchet-Cohen, 2006; EYA, 2003; Gerson, 2007; Ragan,

Amsden, Ao, Hu, Eliot & Tupechka, 2003; Tupechka, 2001; UN-HABITAT, 2008;

Wridt, 2010). This resulted in youth creating maps that depicted such things as

community services and amenities for a broad range of communities (Amsden, 2005;

Lozano, Granados and Herrara, 2005; Hurley et al, 2007) and that established the youth

friendliness of the mapped terrain. Parallel to the merging of these two methods was the

use of mapping technologies such as GIS. These technologies allowed for the creation of

digitized and thus replicable maps in a format commonly used by planners. Both the

asset based method and the new technologies enabled youth to better present their

findingsthe mapsto city officials and planners, and thus access and impact the

planning process. Table 2 categorizes a series of projects that utilized mapping based on

the following criteria: inclusion ofquantitative spatial data; inclusion ofqualitative

data; use of an asset based methodology to generate maps; and the direct and

measurable impact of the project in the community or policy.


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!"#$%&'(&Mapping Literature Analysis&

Author(s) Description Data Methodology Impact

Quantitative/Spatial

Qualitative Assetbased

Geo-technologies

Services Policy Landuse

Amsden et al., 2003 Mapping perceptions of environmentby children.

No Yes Yes No Yes Yes

Amsden & VanWynsberghe, 2005

Mapping of youth friendly healthservices

Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

Blanchet-Cohen, 2006 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

Driskell, 2002 Mapping manual for GUIC Yes Yes Yes No No No

Gerson, 2007 Mapping of services and amenities inBrazilian cities

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Hart, 1979 Mapping of local community by

children

Yes Yes No No No No No

Hooberman, 2008 Community landscape asset mapping

for the Chicago Department of PublicHealth

Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes

Horelli, L., & Kaaja,M. (2002).

Opportunities and constraints ofInternet-Assisted urban planning

with young people

Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Hurley et al., 2007 Evolving Partnerships in Community

(EPIC) Toolkit

Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

Lozano, Granados &

Herrera, 2005

A mapping guide for immigrant and

refugee youth


Lifecycles, 2008 A websiteyouthcore.camapping

youth determined community andinstitutional assets


Lynch, 1979 Mapping of local community bychildren

Yes Yes No No No No No


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!

Mcknight &Kretzman, 1996

Asset Based Community development- Mapping manual

No Yes Yes No Yes Yes

TakingITGlobal, 2006 A Cross-Canada mapping of youth-led

and/or highly youth-engagedinitiatives

Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No

UN-HABITAT, 2008 Mapping of Dar es Salaam by youth Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Wridt, 2006 A neighborhood mapping guide for

children at an Elementary School

Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No


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Table 1 reveals that none of the projects done before 2006 used geo-technologies

such as GIS. This is due to either the unavailability of the technology at the time, and/or

its cost and difficulty of use (Dennis, 2006). The projects that had a limited impact in

land use, services, or policy were Lynchs (1979) and Harts (1979). One commonality

between these two projects was that though each of these projects did produce maps,

none of those maps were rendered through geo-spatial technologies. The maps in each of

these projects were used to facilitate the learning of the young people as well as for

research purposes. This is not to say that each of these researchers did not attempt to

affect change in land use, but the barriers that they faced in regards to the city

bureaucracy and government were indomitable, with the youth not able to, in Denniss

words (2006), speak the language of planning power. This review is of a small number

of projects that used maps, and thus no definitive conclusions can be drawn from the

data. Yet the data suggest a trend in that when geo-technologies are used to produce

maps, they can enhance the capacities of the youth projects in terms of impact, allowing

young people to engage the local governance system in a more robust manner, and

further their ability to have more direct and substantive impact in the realms of policy,

land use, and/or services.

An illuminating article in regard to the question of impact isDon't just listen do

something! Lessons learned about governance from the Growing Up in Cities project

(Chawla et al., 2005). Chawla et al. analyze the experiences of nine practitioners of

GUIC programs in regard to the successes and challenges of GUIC, specifically in the

area doing something. Chawla et al. recognize at the beginning of the article that

GUIC had similar challenges in the 70s as it did up to the writing of the article in getting

adults in power to invest in actually implementing some of the recommendations they

receive and making young people partners in creating better communities (Chawla,

2005, p. 4), even with the global recognition within the Convention on the Rights of the

Child (1987), Action 21 (1992), and the HABTIAT Agenda (1996) that children and

youth have the right to have a say in the decisions which affect them.


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Most of the practitioners found that they were able to make short-term, tangible

neighborhood changes that directly related to the project. More elusive were long-term

change to policies. The major barriers identified were political in nature, either a lack of

interest and/or corruption of local officials or a change in government or political

environment. The lack of experience by the coordinators of the projects in political

lobbying was also mentioned. Malone (as cited in Chawla et al., 2005) identifies another

barrier to action that relates directly to mapping and the capturing of data:

I still look across at mountains of drawings, surveys, childrens words and ideas

that fill every space of my office and overflow into my home, and realize I have

hardly scraped the surface. This is not a new phenomenon for any research work,

but it is still a limitation that we need to face. At this point in the development of

GUIC, I believe we need to consider how to make the findings we have accrued

available to a wider global audience. While many of the results have been

presented in academic publications as neatly analyzed outcomes, I believe that

city councils, children and youth need access to the raw data so that they can

draw out similarities and differences across sites and across time. (p. 20, italics

added)

Malones statement identifies two significant issues for GUIC and other

participatory planning processes. Often in the drive to assure that youth are heard, too

much data are gathered with no plan on how to analyze it. This was also the case in my

own experiences with Participatory Action Research (PAR) and programs such as GUIC.

Blanchet-Cohen and I undertook a youth mapping project for the United Nations

International Children's Conference on the Environment (ICCE) that took place in

Victoria, British Columbia, in May of 2002. In this project, we coordinated a team of

youth who engaged 400 children from 60 countries around the world. We utilized

mapping as a way to gather data in a participatory way from the participants, and used the

data as the basis of a policy statement on childrens perceptions of the environment. This

paper fed into the deliberations of world leaders at the World Summit on Sustainable

Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa the following year. We had huge

amounts of data from the mapping process, so much so that it was impossible to analyze


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it in the coding method we had chosen, forcing us to pare down the data (Amsden et al.,

2003). Even when pared down, we ended up with over 2200 coded items, which, once

analyzed, had a significant impact, allowing young people a voice at WSSD (Blanchet-

Cohen & Rainbow, 2006; UN, 2002a; UN 2002b). As Malone expresses it, children,

youth and those in government need to find a method to efficiently and effectively

analyze the raw data so that they can draw out similarities and differences across sites

and across time (Chawla, 2005, p. 20, emphasis added). It is my contention that had we

had geo-location technologies in this and the other examples, we could have expedited

the collection of data as well the analysis and eventual use by young people in

governance processes.

The next section will demonstrate how new geo-location techniques can be used to

engage young people in both the collection and analysis of data, and how it is an effective

tool for youth to express, advocate for, and affect change. A transformation has taken

place with the move from paper or print based maps to maps that can be input, analyzed,

and disseminated through geo-location technologies. This section goes through an asset

mapping process, using as an example a mapping training undertaken on behalf of UN-

HABITAT in 2009 in East Africa, a training that became the basis of a mapping manual

(UN-HABITAT, 2011). This example demonstrates concretely how youth can engage in

spatial mapping and sets the stage to show how the maps now created can be used to

facilitate the involvement of youth in local governance and planning processes.


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The silenced are not just incidental to the curiosity of the researcher but are themasters of inquiry into the underlying causes of the events in their world. In this

context research becomes a means of moving them beyond silence into a quest toproclaim the world.

Paulo Freire (1986)

Community Mapping with the One Stop Youth Resource Centre, East Africa

The following outlines a series of mapping workshops that were undertaken as

part of a larger project that focused on training approximately 60 youth from the One

Stop Youth Resource centres based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Kampala, Uganda, and

Nairobi, Kenya, in community mapping (UN-HABITAT, unpublished). Muldoon and I

conducted the mapping workshops in November of 2009 as part of a contract with UN-

HABITAT. The goals of the workshops were to train youth in mapping as a participatory

planning tool, and as well to test an asset mapping manual (currently in press). The

mapping was done following the tenants of participatory action research (PAR) that

recognizes the importance of engaging those who are traditionally passive recipients as

active participants in their own education and development and in the development of

their community (Freire, 1986; Driskell, 2002). The goal of PAR is not only to research,

but also to engage marginalized communities, in this case youth, in action and advocacy

to effect positive change within their communities (Ragan & Wilkinson, 2009;

Wadsworth, 1998).

The following figures are from these mapping workshops. Figures 2 and 3

represent the Inside/Out Personal Asset Mapping Exercise, developed initially for the

aforementioned UNEP ICCE (Amsden, Blanchet-Cohen, & Ragan, 2003). Image 4 and 5

are of the Community Mapping Exercise, where youth are provided with GPS units,

video cameras, and still cameras to map and document key assets of the community,

which are later uploaded to the Internet and become the basis for Youth Friendly City

Guides. This method of mapping and descriptive research has been explored for over 30

years, yet with the advent of the new geo-spatial technologies, the different data are no

longer only captured in one-off artistic pieces, but can be collated, stored, analyzed, and

disseminated broadly over the Internet. This enables youth not only to better explore the


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relationships between spatial and social elements in the community, it also reflects their

increased understanding of the community at large through the Internet.

In the Inside/Out exercise, youth are asked to use a life-size image of a body to

collectively write down their personal strengths within the inner outline of the image. On

the outside of the body image they write down community or institutional assets. The

facilitator works with the youth to explore the relationships between the internal assets,

most often personal characteristics, values, or skills and their external assets, most often

key relationships, institutions, or community agencies.

!"#$%&'()'*&%+,-./'.++&0+1

!"#$%&'2 Community and Institutional Assets

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!6

All photography by D. Ragan, 2009


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!The personal asset mapping done in this exercise is informed by three

frameworksKretzman and McKnights Asset Based Community Development (1993),

the asset based framework designed by the Search Institute (2010), and the resilience

framework of Bernard (2004). Each of these frameworks recognizes the inherent

capacities of youth, vesting them with the agency to address issues that are of importance

to them.

Assets Based Community Development or ABCD is a methodology which is

rooted in the mapping or inventorying peoples personal and community assets, a

process that lends itself well to youth development. (Kretzman, Mcknight, 1993).

What is unique with this methodology is that it starts with the premise that youth are

assets to their community no matter what their social, cultural or economic

background. Instead of the the youth undertaking aneeds assessment as a way to

gather data, they instead undertake an asset assessments or asset mapping, to give

a more holistic and positive picture of youth within the context of their community.

Mapping is combined with community development and participatory action research

methods allowing youth to act as as experts in their community, giving them the


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responsibility to gather, analyze and interpret their own data in partnership with

researchers.

The Search Institute identified 40 positive assets comprised of experiences and

qualities that promote the positive development of youth. These assets are rooted inresearch on adolescent development, and are grouped in two categories: prevention,

which are assets focused on protective factors that inhibit high risk behaviors, and

resilience, which are factors that increase the ability of youth to withstand adversity. The

Search Institutes research (2010) found that young people who report having these assets

are more likely to be good leaders, healthy, value diversity, and successful in school. As

well, these young people are reported to be less likely to have alcohol or drug problems,

to be violent, or to practice unsafe sex (Search Institute, 2010).

Bernard (2004) created her resiliency framework based on factors that contribute

to resiliency within youth. She defines resiliency as the ability of youth to withstand

and grow from challenging conditions (Bernard, 2004, p. 13). This resiliency

framework identifies individual and environmental qualities that allow youth to develop

in a healthy way, form meaningful relationships, and avoid drug addiction, health

problems, and violence.

The innovation in the mapping exercises here are that they are part of a

methodology that links the above personal assets to community and institutional assets,

which are then geo-located on a map. This allows participating youth to not only

understand their own assets and gain the benefits from this, but also to understand which

community and institutional assets support them and where they can be found within the

community.

Figure 4 and 5 demonstrate some of the methodologies that are used in the

community and institutional mapping process. Youth are asked to make a list of assets in

the community that support the assets identified in the personal exercisefor example, if

creativity was identified, then the youth would be asked what community and/or

institutional support there is for this asset. Youth write these community/institutional

assets on sticky notes, locate the assets on a Google Earth generated map, and then stick


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those notes on the asset (see figure 4). As many researchers have found (Lynch, 1979;

Driskell, 2002; Hart, 1979; Wridt, 2010), youth are able to identify transportation

infrastructure such as roads, as well as landmarks such as their own homes, schools, and

small businesses. Following this process, the youth broke into three groups: Each group

had a GPS unit, which they used to get to the sticky noted area. Once there, they marked

the GPS point and took a photo. One group also had a video camera to use for an

interview at some of the GPS marked sites. The GPS points were then uploaded to the

Internet, with the photos and videos appended to the data points (UN-HABITAT, 2011).

!

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!

!"#$%&'(')"*&+#%,-./',0*'1.+2+#%,-./'


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Up until recently, qualitative componentssuch as videographic, photographic,

or auditory oneswere often not integrated effectively into maps due to technological

challenges. With the advancement of technology, qualitative data can be embedded

directly into the maps: New maps can now not only be displayed geo-spatially, linked to

current street maps to cities, but photos, videos, music, artwork, and other qualitative data

can be directly linked to the mapped space. Thus the new mapping methods utilized in

this process allow these components to be reflected, both in the process of creating the

maps as well as the output.

!"#$%&'( Digital Map


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YouthCore.ca Map, 2010

The youth generated GIS data are valuable for research and policy purposes.

Researchers have combined youth generated data with data sets available from cities. For

example, Wridt (2010) undertook a study utilizing mapping with 10 and 11 year oldchildren at an elementary school in Denver, Colorado, looking at children's perceptions

and use of their neighborhood for physical activity. Wridt used a multi-method approach

that combined mapping with photography, drawing, time diaries, focus groups, and

cognitive mapping. What was interesting and applicable to this paper was Wridts

combination of data collected by the city with data provided by the children. The most

telling example of the power of this data mashup7

is the comparison between child

reported risks and crime.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"!#Data mashup is a term used to describe the mashing together of different media and

data online.


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The circle outlines representing the clustering of child reported crime, and the

colors report the density of police reported crime. This finding is a reflection of the type

of crime reported and tracked by the police (for example, burglary, aggravated assault,

and larceny) and how children themselves identify risk (for example, bad people, gangs,and graffiti). The lack of correlation between the two sets of data suggests that for there

to be a safer environment for the children there would need to be a refocusing on police

resources to address the child identified crime. This example shows the power of new

mapping technologies, allowing qualitative data traditionally not recognized by urban

officials to be compared with quantitative data gathered by institutions such as the police.

Children and youth demonstrate the capacity to both understand spatial data and

relate it to the real world. New geo-spatial and multi-media technologies, if they can

be afforded, are not a significant barrier to young peoples involvement, and in the cases

outlined enhanced their ability to learn about their community, as well as create output

that can further their ability to engage in community planning processes.

Conclusion


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Mapping has been used as a key methodology to engage youth in urban planning.

First used by Lynch (1971) in the GUIC program in the 1970s, mapping provided a tool

in which young people were able to use their innate ability to map their own local

environments (Blaut, 1987), and in doing so, increase their awareness and knowledge of

their communities (Lynch, 1979; Hart, 1979). This knowledge in turn better enabled

them to engage in formal planning processes. The passing of the CRC in 1989 (UN,

1989) was an impetus for a growing movement to engage youth in issues that directly

impact their lives. Tools and methodologies were developed (Driskell, 2002) with the

aim to enhance youth engagement. Mapping became one tool to engage youth in

realizing their rights, a process that was often challenging due to the unwillingness and/or

lack of understanding of those working in government (Chawla et al., 2005; Checkoway,

2003; Driskell et al., 2001; EYA, 2003; Gerson, 2007; Gurstein et al., 2003; Horellis et

al., 2002).

Beginning in the 1990s, mapping was further refined and became a tool of choice

for community development workers and youth agencies who sought to directly effect

community decision-making and planning processes, especially with marginalized groups

in both the developed and developing world (Amsden & Van Wynsberghe, 2005;

Blanchet-Cohen, 2006; Gerson, 2007; Hurley et al, 2007; Lozano et al., 2005; Lifecycles,

2008; UN-HABITAT, 2008; UN-HABITAT, 2011; Wridt, 2010). During this period

there was an increased use of geo-spatial technologies as a way to improve the output of

mapping processes, allowing young people to produce a professional product that could

easily be incorporated into planning processes. With the growth of geo-spatial

technologies, mapping became the central methodology around which programs were

developed. Maps were created that reflected youth perceptions on a range of issues

from crime to health to recreationwith youth from a range of populations such as

aboriginals, immigrants, refugees, and slum dwellers. These maps allowed young peopleto enter into a dialogue with planners and governments with the goal of advocating for

more services and activities for young people that would also be delivered in a more

efficient and effective way.


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In conclusion, mapping has long been recognized as an important tool, both for

young peoples personal development and the development of their community. The

basic mapping concept has not changed substantively since their use by Lynch (1979)

and Hart (1979), that being the facilitating of young people to use their innate geo-spatial

abilities to better understand and engage in their communities. What has changed is the

ability of young people, on their own and with the support of adult allies and experienced

youth, to project their spatial understanding of their community into formalized planning

and governance processes, and through the engagement in these processes advocate for

their needs. Mapping as a method further realizes young peoples rights to affect change

in issues of importance to themselves, thus bettering the lives of all.


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