Our Research
This project focuses on the meaningful participation and leadership of youth around the world. The goal of our research is to better understand the determinants of flourishing and the measurement and tracking of the various aspects of flourishing across diverse youth populations. Our research explores the themes of resilience, empowerment and flourishing in relation to youth experiences of: (1) conflict, reconciliation and peace; (2) nutrition and food systems; (3) health; (4) climate change and environmental protection.
Research Objectives
Creating a Collaborative Network of International Leaders
Including experts from public policy, sociology, political science, health studies, education, international development, business, in addition to youth researchers, graduate students, youth groups, and social impact organizations.
Employing Mixed Method Research
Utilizing qualitative and quantitative, innovative, and youth-centred research methodologies through information gathering tools such as photovoice and digital story-telling.
Developing Digital Learning Technologies
Introducing cutting-edge technological knowledge-sharing between the international, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral team and youth participants.
Advancing an Adolescent Flourishing Conceptual Framework
Expanding on new and comprehensive understandings of adolescent flourishing and refining youth resilience and empowerment strategies to advance feminist theory and Indigenous and global South knowledge, paying particular attention to intersectional factors of difference.
Expressing Youth Knowledge
Translating knowledge generated by and with youth using diverse knowledge mobilization strategies that resonate with adolescents and bridge gaps between global youth leaders.
Applying Knowledge to Youth Policies and Programming
Engaging with findings and incorporating conclusions into youth-facing health education, digital capacity building, transnational networking and new program and policy design.
Methodological Approaches
Participant Observation
A Community based approach that will ensure the active engagement of youth and community partners as co-designers throughout the project, thereby addressing the exclusion of youth from research processes and from social, economic and political decision-making.
Photovoice
The perspectives and literal views of youth involved in the research will be utilized to provide a rich foundation of their perspectives towards flourishing.
In-Depth Interviews
A minimum of 250 youth and community stakeholders per country will be reached.
Survey Questionnaires
We will reach approximately 1200 respondents per country of research.
Online Chatrooms
We will recruit local youth as participant-researchers, joining an online learning platform through which they consider context-specific public health policies and reflect on their own experiences of human health and flourishing.
By adopting these interdisciplinary and mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) data collection tools, and novel digital learning platforms, the team will ensure the project centres the voices of youth and prioritizes their concerns. Critically, a Gender-based intersectional (GBA+) approach will be taken to overcome the marginalization of female and Indigenous realities in research.