Designing outdoor spaces to promote positive youth development

Julia Jaffe, Ph.D. Candidate in the department of Human Behavior & Design

Designing and implementing a research project is a fundamental element of our doctoral program in Human Behavior & Design. When I started to conceptualize the impact I wanted my research to make, I knew that I wanted to engage community partners in a translational project that could bridge the gaps between communities, academics, practitioners, and policy makers.

My research topic involves the development of an assessment tool for outdoor spaces that reflects the lived experiences and needs of community members, with a focus on designing spaces to promote positive youth development. Through Cornell Cooperative Extension, I had connected with various 4-H coordinators throughout New York state and was beginning to build out a research agenda when I attended a presentation about the PRYDE scholars and the work they had completed over the previous semester. Although the PRYDE program is directed towards undergraduates, I immediately reached out to Dr. Elmore to learn more about the program and explore any opportunities for graduate students to learn about and experience translational research.

During discussions about the importance of community-based participatory research and the factors that impede graduate students from undertaking engaged research more regularly, I shared that I was worried about being able to accept more 4-H groups based on my current funding. Although my project is intentionally designed to be low cost, the majority of my budget goes towards providing food and stipends for youth to recognize and honor the time and work they devote to each activity. What I didn’t know at the time was that the PRYDE program would find so many parallels between our work that they would create the PRYDE Graduate Student Award to be able to support graduate students pursuing research projects with 4-H partners that focus on youth and youth development.

I was grateful to accept this additional funding and went on to complete four workshops with 4-H youth from Rochester to the Hudson Valley. We worked to co-develop an assessment process that empowers youth to explore and advocate for their needs and desires in their outdoor community spaces. These groups contributed unique perspectives stemming from their differing community contexts and offered thoughtful insights on inclusive and accessible design elements to create welcoming spaces for their entire communities. Youth completed and evaluated different arts-based methodologies to identify activities to be included in the preliminary toolkit that would encourage adolescents to articulate opportunities and barriers in these spaces, engage them in envisioning solutions, and support them in communicating their findings to decision makers.

Throughout these workshops, I learned an incredible amount not just about the topic and methodologies, but also the difficulties and the rewards of youth participatory action research. Although challenging at times, conducting youth participatory action research is extremely important for youth development, relationship building, and research outcomes. As I catalogue and begin to analyze the incredible amount of data – from park audits and surveys to photography and model making – I am struck, but not surprised, with how considerate and honest the youth were in their work. During a time when they can be labeled as self-centered and mercurial, given the opportunity, these kids showed their incredible awareness of and compassion for others, along with an advanced understanding of their ecological contexts. Thanks to their work, the preliminary toolkit will include an audit tool that intentionally creates space for individual, social, and community needs, a suite of visioning methodologies from which to choose, and ideas for communication. Two of the 4-H groups have already taken steps to move their work forward by presenting their ideas to planning boards and proposing a program that would hire youth to clean up and maintain these outdoor community spaces while learning about local and invasive fauna.

This project could not have happened with the support from the PRYDE program and the 4-H network, and I am honored and grateful to have been able to carry out my research with so many individuals who are dedicated to improving the lives and experiences of youth.