"This book is the second in a series entitled ‘Learning and Development for a Better World’ and it explores the potential for self-directed lifelong action learning (LAL) by focusing on the design of development pathways with and for young adults. The book considers the reasons why LAL pathways are needed and draws on innovative approaches used by the Global University for Lifelong Learning (including micro enterprise, peace-building, music, sport and the creative arts) with examples from nine countries. The aim is to offer a timely response to the pressing global problem of access to learning and development for marginalized young people during the vulnerable period from their mid-teens to mid-twenties. This book is an engaging and compelling text. I enjoyed the flow of ideas and the key messages of need and solution that it provides. The authors are articulate and convincing in their crafted messages – as well as passionate. Reading this book is time well spent and both enjoyable and instructional.Brendan Bartlett, Professor of Education, Institute of Learning Sciences Australia, Australian Catholic University This book will help both policy makers and those working with young people to change lives. In many areas of the world, young people, particularly women, lead impoverished lives. Developing approaches to lifelong action learning with these young adults will provide hope for the future. Emer Clarke, Formerly Area Director of the UK Learning and Skills Council The plight of millions of young people is clearly worsening as social and economic divisions increase and deepen. This book will serve those well who want to agitate for change and reform based on a belief in social justice and equality of access to learning and economic fairness for all young people.David Davies, Professor Emeritus and Former Executive Dean, University of Derby, UK This book is a valuable resource, an indispensable text and a must read for all working with young people. What captured my attention most was the way in which it illustrates how access to purposeful learning and development can be provided to marginalized young people. Eldrie Gouws, Professor, Department of Psychology of Education, University of South Africa This is a significant and far reaching response to the global problem of young adults’ unemployment and lack of educational opportunities, especially in disadvantaged, remote and poverty-stricken communities in developing as well as developed countries. It is of interest to a wide audience of readers, including youth, parents, educators, non-profit organizations, governments and churches.Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt, Co-author, ‘Lifelong Action Learning for Community Development: Learning and Development for a Better World’, Sense Publishers, 2013"div v>

Action Learning and Action Research deepens understanding and contributes to new knowledge about the theory, practice and processes of Action Learning (AL) and Action Research. It clarifies what constitutes AL/AR in its many forms and what it is not.

This book advocates for community-based research with vulnerable populations within the field of higher education. The chapters outline how research can democratize knowledge generation to make it more accessible and socially relevant, and emphasizes the value of the lived and experiential knowledge of vulnerable and marginalized populations. Rooted in a critique of the current practices of higher education that fail to support participatory and transformative research, the research is structured at micro, macro and meso levels to ultimately emancipate colonized thinking of stakeholders about power, privilege and participation. Focusing primarily on various contexts within the Global South, the contributors argue that the time is ripe for community-based research which combines the theoretical knowledge of the academy with the local, experiential knowledge of those experiencing the consequences of social inequality to co-construct knowledge for change.

This book confronts the issues young people face growing up in the confusion and anxiety of today’s highly global society. Young people face their futures consumed with feelings of doubt, uncertainty and ambivalence. The Global Financial Crisis and the rise of the Islamic State means young people are transitioning into adulthood in a time that we call an age of anxiety. They may be the first generation to have fewer opportunities than their parents yet, despite this, they are learning to imagine other kinds of futures. These are futures where economic collapse provides opportunities for entrepreneurialism and innovation, where Islamic State does not need to pose a clear and present danger, and where political action provides hope for a better world. Dealing with the current political and economic climate and progressive campaigns such as Black Lives Matter, Howie and Campbell tackle some of the biggest threats to the future of society. An innovative and wide-reaching study, this book will be of particular interest to scholars of human geography, disaster studies, politics, and sociology.

An exploration of how design might be led by marginalized communities, dismantle structural inequality, and advance collective liberation and ecological survival. What is the relationship between design, power, and social justice? “Design justice” is an approach to design that is led by marginalized communities and that aims expilcitly to challenge, rather than reproduce, structural inequalities. It has emerged from a growing community of designers in various fields who work closely with social movements and community-based organizations around the world. This book explores the theory and practice of design justice, demonstrates how universalist design principles and practices erase certain groups of people—specifically, those who are intersectionally disadvantaged or multiply burdened under the matrix of domination (white supremacist heteropatriarchy, ableism, capitalism, and settler colonialism)—and invites readers to “build a better world, a world where many worlds fit; linked worlds of collective liberation and ecological sustainability.” Along the way, the book documents a multitude of real-world community-led design practices, each grounded in a particular social movement. Design Justice goes beyond recent calls for design for good, user-centered design, and employment diversity in the technology and design professions; it connects design to larger struggles for collective liberation and ecological survival.

Streets Reconsidered is a fundamental rethinking of America's streets. It explores the future of streets and what America's roadways could be if they were designed for living, instead of just driving. The book includes: detailed design guidelines, fully illustrated, four color case studies of successful streets from around the world, a new paradigm of streets designed to promote human functions, turning new design ideas into a series of best practices that can be applied to any community. What would streets look like if they accommodated people of all ages and abilities, promoted healthy urban living, social interaction and business, the movement of people and goods and regeneration of the environment? Streets Reconsidered pushes beyond the current standards, focusing on the planning, design and construction of streets as a method for improving our built environment for everyone. The book is organized by the functions of a street: mobility, way finding, commerce, social gathering, events and programming, play and recreation, urban agriculture, green infrastructure and image and identity. Streets Reconsidered is the essential resource for city planners, urban designers, developers, architects, landscape architects, policymakers and community members who share a passion for great urban, human spaces.

The Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Spaces for Young People is a thorough and practical resource for all who wish to influence policy and design decisions in order to increase young people’s access to and use of public spaces, as well as their role in design and decision-making processes. The ability of youth to freely enjoy public spaces, and to develop a sense of belonging and attachment to these environments, is critical for their physical, social, cognitive, and emotional development. Young people represent a vital citizen group with legitimate rights to occupy and shape their public environments, yet they are often driven out of public places by adult users, restrictive bylaws, or hostile designs. It is also important that children and youth have the opportunity to genuinely participate in the planning of public spaces, and to have their needs considered in the design of the public realm. This book provides both evidence and tools to help effectively advocate for more youth-inclusive public environments, as well as integrate youth directly into both research and design processes related to the public realm. It is essential reading for researchers, design and planning professionals, community leaders, and youth advocates.