Ringsted Municipality lets children and young people design the policy about themselves

Researchers from Kolding School of Design have played a central role in applying child-centred design methods and turning children and young people into the creators of the very policy that concerns them. They have themselves described what makes for a good and meaningful everyday life.

- We now have an entirely new take on policy based on 7,000 young voices. We are not using assumptions and theories about what children’s and young people’s needs are. These are their own wishes and dreams for a good life. We are now building on a very real foundation – for example, nature is important, friendships are important, life skills are important – so how can we, as adults, ensure that these elements are present in the everyday lives children actually live? explains Martin Reinholdt Fogh, Development Consultant at Ringsted Municipality.

Martin Reinholdt Fogh has led the project, which has now been adopted by Ringsted Municipal Council. 1,700 teachers, educators and other professionals have been on an important mission to gather knowledge from children and young people in the municipality’s nurseries, schools and special schools, as well as upper secondary and youth education programmes.

Friends to take into space
The road to the policy has been both unique and ambitious. The 7,000 children and young people contributed through playful design methods using images, comics, letters to the editor and more. They were also asked to describe their day to an alien, and what they would take with them into space.

The municipality commits itself to concrete actions across ten themes – from life skills and safety to nature, activities, transport, and beautiful surroundings and places to meet. These will now serve as guidelines for employees’ work. At the same time, there will be follow-up to assess whether new initiatives truly make sense for children and young people and actually succeed in practice.

Children and young people are capable of much more
The municipality has had a fundamental ambition to involve children and young people in matters that affect their lives, and this has provided entirely new perspectives, says Martin Reinholdt Fogh:

-With playful approaches and a different, more curious perspective, we have also been able to involve those who are not so verbally confident or self-assured. Children are often so focused on living up to adults’ expectations that they do not always dare to answer honestly. Here, they did – and it has surprised me how knowledgeable and aware they are of their own challenges and dreams. We adults need to be equipped to listen in a different way.

Taskforce starts at children’s eye level
At a time when the field of children and young people faces many challenges, there is a need to think differently. For this reason, researchers from Kolding School of Design have established a Taskforce for Child and Youth-Centred Design, led by Karen Feder, Associate Professor in the LAB for Play Design. It is this taskforce that collaborated with Ringsted Municipality.

- Far too many solutions are designed without real insight into and understanding of the people they are meant for. Our taskforce steps in when the target group deserves new thinking, and when old habits and methods no longer work. We start at children’s eye level and from young people’s perspectives, ensuring relevance and meaning both in the process and in the final outcome. Our mission is to encourage adults, including politicians, to recognise children’s and young people’s interests, perspectives and rights, says Karen Feder.

She looks forward to further collaborations with municipalities and organisations that need new perspectives and sustainable solutions.

Facts about the Taskforce for Child & Youth-Centred Design
Kolding School of Design has established a taskforce that helps organisations develop solutions with children and young people at the centre. The researchers and designers are experts in child- and youth-centred methods and approaches, and they work directly from the perspectives of children and young people when investigating, developing and designing relevant, engaging and meaningful places and experiences for, with and by children and young people.