Youth Manifesto
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Youth Manifesto: Architecture in a Climate crisis
On 15/11/2020, 14 young people aged between 15 & 18 spoke at a live, global event as Open House Dublin / Irish Architecture Foundation’s contribution to the Open House Worldwide Virtual Festival. They expressed their own voice & articulated their ideas & opinions on architecture in a climate crisis. This dynamic, creative group of young people have valuable messages for the architecture profession & need to be listened to!
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Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
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Summary
Youth Manifesto: Architecture in a Climate crisis
On Sunday 15th November 2020, 14 young people aged between 15 and 18 spoke at a live, global event as Open House Dublin / Irish Architecture Foundation’s contribution to the Open House Worldwide Virtual Festival. This dynamic, creative group of young people have valuable messages for the architecture profession and need to be listened to! They applied to participate via an open call in September 2020. At the live event, each young person had their own time slot of 3-5 minutes to speak live on a virtual global platform. They expressed their own voice and articulated their own ideas and opinions on architecture in a climate crisis. The preparation for the live event took place over a series of youth-led virtual workshops, supported by individual research. They experienced an authentic sense of agency, delivering individual messages, within a collective vision. This process helped them to regain a sense of belonging and connection, both within a community of interest, and internationally, during the global pandemic.
Their ‘Youth Manifesto’ has 5 key themes related to sustainable design in architecture:
• Use of Space
• Rebels + Activists
• Human Rights
• Creative Solutions
• Environmentally Responsive Materials
Key Facts:
Project Title: Youth Manifesto – Architecture in a Climate Crisis
Dates: Workshops – 18/10/20 – 11/11/20. Live Event - 15/11/2020
Watch: https://vimeo.com/622277233/7ccfc7328c (summary)
Who:
Youth Panel – 14 young people aged between 15-18Names: Shauna McNamara, Seanie Rankin Whelan, Keyanna Diaz, Abi McNamee, Mark McNally, Conor Heerey, Nakai Mudiwa, Raghnaid Fagan, Leo Zirwes, Sophie Byrne, Charlie McLaughlin, Maya McClelland, Isabel McDermott, Caitlin Hilton
Youth Advisor: Maya McClelland, age 16
Project Lead: Blaithin Quinn, Irish Architecture Foundation
Architecture Facilitators: Blaithin Quinn, Tracy Connaughton
Key objectives for sustainability
Key objectives: To centre the voices of young people around architecture, sustainable design & aesthetics in the age of a climate crisis, at the Open House Worldwide (OHWW) Virtual Festival, 2020. To facilitate a series of inclusive, participatory, virtual youth-led workshops to support this objective, in the lead up to the festival event. To support the young people to develop & articulate their arguments & creative solutions. To present a live, virtual ‘Youth Manifesto’ as part of the OHWW Virtual Festival.
Themes: The Youth Manifesto had 5 main areas of youth-led research in the area of sustainable design. These themes were explored individually and collectively during the workshop series.
• Use of Space - How can we best use, reuse and adapt the limited space we have left on the planet? We considered semi-buried homes, adaptive reuse, vertical architecture for sustainable land use, reduction of urban sprawl.
• Rebels + Activists - We discussed how architects can do much more to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. They must be activists as well as designers, acting as agents of radical change.
• Human Rights - We considered how the architecture profession needs to reconsider its value systems around the rights of construction workers and end users.
• Creative Solutions - As action on the climate crisis is so urgent, we cannot wait for the construction industry to catch up. We need solutions that can be developed at speed and easily scaled up, to make an impact and to catalyse change. We investigated how tactical urbanism could be employed.
• Environmentally Responsive Materials - How can sustainable materials be integrated into the art of architecture to enhance aesthetic beauty and prolong a building's lifetime? We explored the use of locally sourced materials for sustainable design and alternatives to traditional building materials.
Exemplary: The young people had a unique sense of agency over their sustainable design ideas.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Key objectives: To centre the voices of young people around architecture, sustainable design & aesthetics in the age of a climate crisis, at the Open House Worldwide (OHWW) Virtual Festival, 2020. To facilitate a series of inclusive, participatory, virtual youth-led workshops to support this objective, in the lead up to the festival event. To support the young people to develop & articulate their arguments & creative solutions. To present a live, virtual ‘Youth Manifesto’ as part of the OHWW Virtual Festival.
This Youth Manifesto informal learning project set out to educate and inspire young people about the discipline of architecture as an art form, encouraging awareness of aesthetics and best design practice in parallel with an awareness of sustainable design. To support an understanding of aesthetics in design, leading examples of global architecture were explored during the workshops, with specific examples being shared with individual participants where relevant to their own area of research. The young people themselves also developed a greater understanding of the importance of good design in their local build environment. We considered how sustainable and locally sourced building materials can be integrated into the art of architecture to enhance aesthetic beauty and prolong a building's lifetime.
Exemplary: At the start of the project the young people were very aware of the climate crisis, and less aware of architecture, design and aesthetics. The collaborative workshop process introduced them to these areas and they developed a new appreciation and understanding of aesthetics in the built environment both globally and locally, beyond pure functionality.
Key objectives for inclusion
Key objectives: To centre the voices of young people around architecture, sustainable design & aesthetics in the age of a climate crisis, at the Open House Worldwide (OHWW) Virtual Festival, 2020. To facilitate a series of inclusive, participatory, virtual youth-led workshops to support this objective, in the lead up to the festival event. To support the young people to develop & articulate their arguments & creative solutions. To present a live, virtual ‘Youth Manifesto’ as part of the OHWW Virtual Festival.
“Though we faced some obstacles such as communicating solely via zoom and email, we were able to overcome these challenges. The workshops were also incredibly sociable events and through informal zoom meetings we were all able to become closer as a group" Sophie Byrne, Age 16
Public participation: This inspiring Youth Manifesto with powerful messages had a direct impact on viewers at the live event, as the youth panel spoke directly to an international audience - viewed on YouTube by 250 people and potentially by many more as 40,000 people engaged with the OHWW event over the 48 hour duration.
Citizen engagement: The youth panel participants are the citizens (14 young people aged 15-18). They were directly involved in both the design & implementation of the project. The overall approach was youth-led, during the design of the intangible workshop learning experience & the implementation of the live Youth Manifesto event in terms of thematic content & approach.
Co-design: Workshops & the live OHWW event were co-designed in consultation with the young people.
Universal design: The 3 principles of universal design for learning were followed in the workshops & live event - engagement; representation; action & expression.
Accessibility: An understanding of multiple ways of learning to ensure accessibility.
Equal opportunities / Affordability: Youth workshops & live event were open to all and free
Results in relation to category
Category: Regaining a sense of belonging - to regain a sense of belonging and connection, both within a community of interest, and internationally, during the global pandemic.
Impacts:
Overall Impact: (Global) This inspiring Youth Manifesto with its powerful messages had a direct impact on viewers at the live event in November 2020, as the youth panel spoke directly & frankly to an international audience. It was viewed on YouTube by 250 people and potentially by many more as 40,000 people engaged with the Open House Worldwide Virtual Festival over the 48 hour duration. Since 2020, the Irish Youth Manifesto has inspired other cities worldwide to get involved. In November 2021, a second Youth Manifesto took place virtually, when Open House Dublin was joined by Open House Santiago and Open House Buenos Aires. It can potentially continue to inspire and grow, generating a collective youth voice on architecture in a climate crisis. This project was a winner in the UK based TET (Thornton Education Trust) Inspire Future Generations Awards in 2021 (Informal learning activity category).
Overall Impact: (Local) There were many tangible benefits to the young people involved. During the workshop series the young participants gained an increased awareness & appreciation of architecture, & how it relates to the climate crisis. New skills: Research & public speaking. Confidence. Teamwork & collaboration. The workshops were very well attended by a group of committed, dedicated young people, with a sense of belonging to this group. At the Live Event: Each young person had their own time slot of 3-5 minutes to speak live on a virtual global platform. They expressed their own voice, & articulated their own ideas & opinions on architecture in a climate crisis. They experienced an authentic sense of agency, delivering powerful individual messages, within a collective vision.
How Citizens benefit
Citizens: The youth panel participants are the citizens in this case (consisting of 14 young people aged 15-18). They were directly involved in both the design and implementation of the project. The overall approach was youth-led, during the design of the intangible workshop learning experience and the implementation of the live Youth Manifesto event in terms of thematic content and approach. Their involvement in the process was as follows:
1. Development - Pre-workshop series (development of content, structure, engagement methods): Create a clear structure for the workshop series in collaboration with a youth advisor aged 15. Ensure that the content and 5 key themes are relevant to young people’s lived experiences. Explore virtual engagement tools and methods to ensure inclusion and participation. Trial the workshops in advance with the youth advisor giving feedback. Adjust and alter the workshops based on this feedback to ensure engaging, relevant and stimulating content.
2. Workshops - During the workshop series (ongoing development, iterative process, based on young people’s responses): Support youth-led research, capture key insights on issues that are most important and relevant to young people by facilitating open, engaging workshops where youth voice is centred and valued. Communicate a clear sense of purpose (common goal of Youth Manifesto and live event). Support participation, sense of empowerment, agency, sense of belonging to a group.
- Collaborative youth-led research within workshop series
- Individual youth-led research between workshops
- Formative feedback for young people
3. Implementation - Live Event as part of the OHWW Virtual Festival; each young person had their own time slot of 3-5 minutes to speak live on a virtual global platform. They expressed their own voice and articulated their own ideas and opinions on architecture in a climate crisis, individually and collectively - in the only youth event (under 18) in the OHWW festival.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
Pioneering and innovative: With their powerful messages in the Youth Manifesto, young people spoke directly to the discipline of architecture. They proposed fresh creative solutions, demonstrating how architects can make a difference in addressing urgent issues of climate change through their practice. This youth-led project centred the voices of young people around architecture in the age of a climate crisis. They presented a live, virtual ‘Youth Manifesto’ as part of the OHWW Virtual Festival in 2020. A series of virtual workshops supported this objective, with young people developing & articulating their arguments and creative solutions.
Impact: This education / learning project has inspired other Open House cities around the world to create their own Youth Manifestos. In 2021 young people in Buenos Aires and Santiago were mobilised to become part of this global collective youth voice, inspired by the inaugural event in 2020.
Best practice: This project demonstrates best practice in youth engagement, participation, empowerment, sense of agency, youth voice centralised, youth-led research.
Overcoming challenges: We could not meet in person due to the pandemic, however by using zoom break-out rooms, Mural (collaborative whiteboard) and a zoom campfire session, the group bonded and were united for the Youth Manifesto. The workshops were designed as participatory, interactive experiences, with the input of a youth advisor.
Award winning project: This project was a winner in the UK based TET (Thornton Education Trust) Inspire Future Generations Awards in 2021 (Informal learning activity category). The Inspire Future Generations Awards recognise people & initiatives globally that have been working with children and young people - helping them to engage in & advocate for a better built environment. The 2021 winning entries clearly demonstrate how they have made a tangible impact on architecture and education, through activity, collaboration or research.
Learning transferred to other parties
From Local to Global: The Youth Manifesto can potentially be scaled up worldwide, generating a collective global vision by young people in the area of sustainable design, in the context of a climate emergency. In 2021, the IAF Curator of Learning acted as a mentor to other interested cities in the Open House Worldwide family. As a result of this, young people in Open House Buenos Aires and Open House Santiago took part in a second Youth Manifesto event, with Open House Dublin, in 2021. The workshop structure has been developed and it can be adapted locally, while globally relevant. it can also be adapted to in-person rather than virtual sessions.
Original programme devised and delivered by the IAF / Open House Dublin, in collaboration with 14 young people aged 15-18.
Stages:
1: Open Call for a youth panel with debating/public speaking experience, and an interest in architecture and the climate crisis.
2: Workshop planning by facilitators with input from youth advisor. Research into key themes. Consideration of content, structure and approach to best engage and empower young people.
3: Facilitate workshops and supporting activities, with 14 young people aged 15-18.
Programme Activities:
3 Workshops – Workshop 1, introduction, overview, timeline, objectives, 5 key themes, brainstorming. In Workshop 2 participants chose a theme based on their own interests, collaborated in thematic groups. Workshop 3 was a rehearsal for the live event, with feedback.
1 Zoom Campfire: An informal event to help the participants to bond thorough a series of fun and interactive ice-breakers.
See question above: 'Please explain how citizens and civil society were involved in the in the design and/or implementation of the project' - for an outline on the methodology.
