This paper offers critical reflections on a transdisciplinary research project (CCC-CATAPULT) adopting a mixed method approach to explore young peoples’ experiences of and learning around climate crisis in four European city regions (Bristol, UK; Galway, Ireland; Genoa, Italy; and Tampere, Finland). Underpinned by a co-production and creative research design, with a phased and sequential data collection process, CCC-CATAPULT incorporated an extensive survey completed by young people in each city region, to capture a snapshot of youth experiences and understandings of climate crisis across a variety of scales. This was followed by focus groups with young people, interviews with teachers and other supporters of learning, and creative narrative workshops. The overall project responds to an urgent need to include the voice of young people when planning for climate change in European cities (and beyond). The paper considers this creative and mixed method approach in relation to the specificity of place and context, exploring the situated nature of data collection with a view to providing practical insight on the challenges of developing a comparative research project across four city regions in Europe. The reflections are framed by the CCC-CATAPULT findings to consider what can be learned by, for and through young people to begin a conversation around how these learnings can be communicated beyond an academic audience (for example to design effective climate crisis education in the Anthropocene).

Prof Frances Fahy; Dr Kathy Reilly; Bronagh Dillon (PhD Candidate)
Discipline of Geography, School of Geography Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway

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ID Abstract: 813