Participatory methodologies with children in vulnerable urban environments: Co-productions and stories of the road to school

Abstract

Children’s biopsychosocial development is rooted in daily experiences and mobility in urban environments. However, climate change, health crises and the perception of insecurity have restricted children’s free access to the city, especially in vulnerable urban contexts. While existing literature focuses on methodologies to raise children’s perception of public space through mock-ups or interviews, this has overlooked the depth and complexity of the family and school community’s role in their life. This paper introduces a new analytic participatory methodology, triangulating urban actors, where childhood is the protagonist of the characterization of urban mobility. Through a series of qualitative techniques, surveys, and workshops, it was possible to characterize the path to school with and from the leading role of children, involving families and schools. Children’s stories and co-produced experiences were collected in the courtyards of 7 schools in high and vulnerable areas of Valparaíso in Chile. Using games, surveys and interviews from 375 children’s families and schools, the care is still assumed by parents, with a clear gender that assigns responsibilities mainly to women.