Spaceshaper 9-14

Young people are often overlooked in community engagement, but Spaceshaper 9-14 aims to get them involved in improving their local parks, streets, playgrounds and other spaces.

Spaceshaper works best when a wide range of stakeholders contribute to discussions about improving public spaces. Spaceshaper 9-14 will help young people to:

  • use observational and recording skills to establish current views of a local space
  • develop presentation skills to communicate findings to others
  • understand how different groups make conflicting demands of the same space
  • see how their contribution fits into wider development plans, giving them confidence and opportunities to take part in future development of their public spaces.
  • raise their aspirations about their local space and how much better it can be

They will also have fun during the process!

How does it work?

Spaceshaper 9-14 is for use both in school and with youth groups. It is a workshop-based toolkit that has the flexibility to be adapted to local circumstances. Essential to the process is a trained facilitator, who advises and runs the workshop. 

A site visit is an integral part of the process and is often led by a local expert.  This prepares the participants to assess the space and capture their individual perceptions using the eight Spaceshaper themes:

  • access: finding your way and getting about
  • use: what activities and opportunities the space has to offer
  • other people: how the space caters for different needs
  • maintenance: how clean and cared for the space is
  • environment: how safe and comfortable the space is
  • design and appearance: what the space looks like and what materials it uses
  • community: how important the space is to local people
  • you: how the space makes you feel.

These perceptions are fed into web-based programme to produce a graphical illustration which can be used to prompt further discussion and debate. The session finishes by explaining how this information will be fed back to the client.

Who’s behind it?

CABE has been working with beam, the Architecture Centre in Wakefield, as well as the Bristol and Kent Architecture Centres to develop the tool.

Facilitator training

All the training courses for this financial year are full.  Sign up to our mailing list to hear about training courses in the future:

 

Apply to run a Spaceshaper 9-14 workshop

Please fill in the project form and return it to spaceshaper9-14@cabe.org.uk.

For a list of facilitators email spaceshaper9-14@cabe.org.uk or call 01924 215 550.  Please note that facilitator training for the original Spaceshaper tool is run separately. For information on this please email spaceshaper@cabe.org.uk.