The Ask Project: Connecting young people with place

Aims of the work

Working with young people

The Ask project was designed to work directly with disabled and non-disabled children to gain a better understanding of their needs. Through creative consultation sessions we explored young people’s responses to different environments and what changes they think would make these places more interesting for them and other children. This involved looking at issues like quality of experience, site facilities, barriers to access and services.

Bringing together disabled and non-disabled children was important to explore the needs of the whole range of children and to address accessibility and diversity issues. The voices of disabled children have often been neglected in consultation in Japan and the UK, and therefore are not well represented in outdoor designs. Where opportunities are provided for young people they often fail to take account of the needs of all children. Bringing together disabled and non-disabled children proved an excellent way of sharing experiences, creating more awareness of natural diversity and encouraging learning about different needs.

Working with practitioners

From experience we are aware of the value of giving practitioners the chance to work directly with young people so they can learn how to make more informed decisions about the design and management of public outdoor space. The Ask project involved working with education workers and public open space managers to evaluate outdoor sites and the experiences they offer to children. They took an active role working with the children and this allowed them to learn first hand how the needs and experiences of different people can be catered for in an outdoor environment.

Working with partners

We involved other partners such as Eden Project and Tokyo University, identified examples of good practice, interviewed leading practitioners and involved site staff in the evaluation sessions to help them learn how to make better provision through design and management decisions in the future. We ran site visits and surveys to identify the effectiveness of selected existing sites and facilities. We interviewed specialists in the field to gain more understanding of the issues in Japan and UK.

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