Coastal Youth Life Chances: Challenges, Opportunities and Future Directions

This one-day conference, hosted by the UCL Coastal Youth Life Chances team, will bring together researchers, policymakers and practitioners who are interested in addressing the challenges facing young people growing up in coastal communities. 

The event will cover a broad range of topics, including: education and employment opportunities on the coast; young people's mental health and wellbeing; leisure opportunities and spaces for local youth; youth voice in local decision-making; and future directions for coastal youth research.

Throughout the day, we will hear from speakers from a range of organisations, including the Coastal Navigators Network, DCMS, Barnardo's, The Guardian, as well as from academic researchers based at UCL, University of Exeter and University of Essex. Please see below for a full programme.

This event is funded by UKRI-ESRC (grant ref. ES/X001202/1) and registration is free and open to all. Lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout the day. 

Programme:

09:30 - 10:00 Registration & welcome refreshments

10:00 - 10:05 Welcome & Introduction
Welcome and introduction to the day – Avril Keating, PI for the Coastal Youth Life Chances (CYLC) project

10:05 - 11:00 Leisure & Social Infrastructure:
Chair: Claire Cameron, Co-I for the Coastal Youth Life Chances project
(1) ‘Nothing to do and nowhere to go’: Leisure, social infrastructure and the erosion of youth belonging on the East of England coast (Sam Whewall, UCL-IOE & the CYLC project team)
(2) ‘What happens if we offer "Something to do and somewhere to go"? Adolescent leisure participation and life satisfaction in early adulthood’ (Avril Keating, UCL-IOE & the CYLC project team)

11:00 - 12:00 Education
Chair: Lynne Rogers, UCL Department of Education, Practice & Society
(1) Exploring spatial inequalities in educational outcomes: Are young people in coastal communities less likely to get a degree-level qualification? (Stephen Jivraj, Zongpu Yue & the CYLC project team)
(2) A practitioners’ perspective (Graeme Dow, Assistant Director of Children’s Services, Education and SEN, Blackpool Council)

12:00 - 13:00 Lunch & Networking Session

13:00 - 14:00 Mental Health & Wellbeing
Chair: Sheela Agarwal, Co-director of the Centre for Coastal Communities, University of Plymouth
(1) The coastal youth mental health crisis: a double whammy for youth living in deprived coastal communities of England (Emily Murray, Director of the Centre for Coastal Communities, University of Essex)
(2) Early inteventions in mental health: Evaluation of the Wellbeing Hubs and the ‘I am Me’ programme in Tendring and Colchester Primary Schools (Cara Booker, University of Essex)

14:00 - 15:00 Employment
Chair: Rachel Wilde, UCL Department of Education, Practice & Society
(1) Moving for opportunities? The occupational destinations of 25-year-olds from rural and coastal areas in England (Christopher Playford, University of Exeter)
(2) Rising with the Tide: how the Coastal Navigators Network are seeking to support youth employment in coastal communities (Nicholas Werran, Breaking Barriers Innovations)

15:00 - 15:15 Break

15:15 - 16:15 Amplifying Youth Voice in Local Decision-making
Chair: Sam Whewall, Postdoctoral Fellow for the Coastal Youth Life Chances project
(1) Community level: Connected Communities research with young people along the Cumbrian coast (Suzanne Wilson, University of Lancashire)
(2) Local government and youth participation in decision-making: Josh Harsant, Head of Voice & Influence, Barnardo’s
(3) National policymaking and youth voice: Koby Davis (youth worker, PhD student, and member of DCMS Youth Strategy Youth Advisory Group)

16:15 - 17:00 Closing panel: Future directions
Chair: Avril Keating, PI for the Coastal Youth Life Chances project
(1) Short film – Being young by the sea – a year in the life of young adults in Blackpool title TBC (Polly Braden, documentary photographer)
(2) Lisa Bachelor (The Guardian editor of the Seascape Series) and Polly Braden discuss the Against the Tide series – what they learned and what they want to see next

For any queries, please contact the conference organisers:
Dr Sam Whewall (s.whewall@ucl.ac.uk)
Prof. Avril Keating (a.keating@ucl.ac.uk)

This event is funded by UKRI-ESRC (grant ref. ES/X001202/1).