Youth Moves: Reimagining How Young People Move Around Guildford

How easy is it to get around Guildford when you’re young? Where do you feel safe and independent? Where do you actually enjoy spending time – and what would you change if someone gave you the chance? 

Join researchers from the University of Surrey, at Zero Carbon Guildford,  for 'Youth Moves' – a free, fun and interactive workshop where young people can investigate how they move around their local area and come up with ideas for making Guildford a better place to grow up.

Forget sitting through a lecture. You’ll become a ‘mobility detective’, mapping the journeys and places that matter to you, spotting things that make getting around easier or harder, and getting creative as you redesign streets and public spaces to work better for young people. You’ll also have the chance to share your ideas with researchers and people involved in shaping local communities.

Youth Moves is inspired by i-MOBYL – Inclusive Mobility Interventions for Young Adolescents and Liveable Urban Spaces – an international research project investigating how towns and cities can help young people travel more actively, independently and sustainably. The University of Surrey’s part of the project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), with researchers working directly with young people to understand how the places where they live affect their independence, wellbeing and everyday choices.

The workshop will be led by Dr Eleanor Ratcliffe, Associate Professor in Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey, alongside the University’s i-MOBYL research team. Their work brings together psychology, transport, urban design and young people’s real-life experiences to explore a simple but important question: how can we create places that work better for young people?

The ideas and experiences shared at the workshop will contribute to conversations around the i-MOBYL project and its Guildford Living Lab, helping researchers understand what young people themselves think needs to change.

Dr Eleanor Ratcliffe, Associate Professor in Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey

If you’re aged 11–15 and live in Guildford or the surrounding area, we want to hear what you think!

Young people and their parents/guardians, environmental planners, teachers, researchers