Changing the status quo through research means changing the status quo in research.
Rana Khazbak, who has recently joined Young Lives, Young Futures as a postdoctoral researcher, is one of three interviewees in a new short film produced by the School of Education, Communication and Society at King's College London. The film shows different ways of engaging young people in the research process.
Rana talks about her previous research on urban regeneration projects in London. Rana found that even though regeneration may improve neighbourhood quality, not all young people are able to benefit from such improvements. Regeneration often reinforces the social injustices affecting young people from lower income and ethnically minoritised backgrounds - they might experience heightened policing, for example, or be deliberately excluded from public spaces.
In the blog that goes with the video, Alice Weavers’ PhD study also gets a mention. Alice has been working on Young Lives, Young Futures throughout her PhD, which explores how young people could be more involved in national policymaking.
Alice has found that many young people are not sure where to go to share their views about/with the government. Many young people also don’t feel listened to despite wanting to get involved with finding solutions to issues that affect them.
Alice is now advocating for the creation of a platform, gov.uk/youth, which would inform young people about government policy, including how their views could make a difference to policy decisions.