What and who?: Together with the Sierra Leonean organisation Youth Dream Centre, the Sierra Leonean University of Makeni, the Australian organisation Urban Synergies Group and the Australian University of Canberra, Dreamtown did a large survey on youth wellbeing in Sierra Leone.
Where and why?: The purpose of the research was to explore key factors influencing youth wellbeing through contextual and youth inclusive research. Across three cities - Freetown, Makeni, and Koidu - more than 1000 young people took part in a survey about their level of wellbeing. The research was part of a programme called Spaces for Youth, which is about creating better public spaces for young people in vulnerable urban communities, and improve their inclusion in decision-making processes.
How?: The youth wellbeing survey was co-designed by the project partners to collect a robust baseline dataset with information about characteristics of the communities and qualified descriptions, characteristics and patterns on subjective well-being of the target youth population. Data were collected using face to face interviews, conducted by students from University of Makeni and volunteers from Youth Dream Centre. Training sessions were held with the students in data collection and data analysis, to ensure the process was used to build local capacity amongst youth, consistent with the objectives of the project. Data were captured on mobile devices. Analysis of the data was done by the partners from University of Canberra, after a ground-truthing process in which the data collectors, supervisors and partner staff came together and evaluated the quality of the survey data and findings.
What did we learn, and what do we use it for?: The research helped us concretise elements of wellbeing for young Sierra Leoneans in their everyday life in the city and develop a detailed understanding of youth wellbeing with strong roots in the local context. This focus has shaped our follow up interventions in the communities, and the the results of the research have been used to identify key priorities for advocacy at local government levels in a Call for Action, which are now being acted on together with local youth groups and community based organisations.
Want to know more?: A research report was published on the results of the work, which can be found here: https://issuu.com/dreamtown.ngo/docs/survey_baseline_report. The report examines multiple dimensions of well-being of youth in Sierra Leone, drawing on the survey, with a particular focus on public space
Yderligere information omkring vores research - her et par
links til materiale:
Full
research report gennem Dreamtowns hjemmeside her: https://www.dreamtown.ngo/research
Artikel skrevet af Dreamtown og Canberra University: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335975463_EXPLORING_NEW_HORIZONS_FOR_YOUTH_WELLBEING_AND_PUBLIC_SPACE_IN_SIERRA_LEONE
Email Greg, Canberra University: gregor.mews@qut.edu.au