Exploring the Fourth Environment : Young People's Use of Places and Views on Their Local Environment, 1996-1999

The aims of the project were:<br> to examine how children and adolescents (9 to 16 years) 'see the world around them' and how they make use of place. Attention has focussed on the 'fourth environment', those public places beyond the home, school and playground;<br> to consider whether age, sex, ethnicity, family structure, social class and location (inner-urban, urban (suburban), rural) have a bearing upon children's and adolescents' environmental use, access, needs (social, recreational, sporting), aspirations, safety and behaviour and to evaluate the role of parental attitudes/fears towards shaping environmental opportunity in order to uncover the negotiated geography of place;<br> to contribute significantly to the development of appropriate (and novel) methods of studying children's and adolescents' local environmental values, preferences and needs (for example, extensive and intensive surveys, group interviews, in-depth discussion groups, environmental exchanges, environmental videos, environmental diaries, environmental forums);<br> to consider how children and adolescents could become part of the (local) environmental planning process, particularly through long-term structures which both empower young people and encourage an attitude of critical reflection. This part of the project involved 'local' inter-agency co-operation and action with regard both to the identification of 'local' environmental issues relevant to children and adolescents and to the enhancement of 'local' environmental strategies targeted at young people. In addition, the project looked critically and comparatively upon the experiences of countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Philippines and Brazil (known to the project team through direct experience and consultancies) all of which have put in place lasting organisations that facilitate young people's participation;<br> to contribute to the theoretical and conceptual debates on young people as 'outsiders' within society, and ii) 'active' environmental agents capable of participatory citizenship from an early age. Both debates raise issues of empowerment, equal opportunity and equity and are set in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and 'local' Agenda 21. Also, to explore the tensions that arise through changing perceptions of 'public' and 'private' spaces and between the rival pulls of the rights to both freedom and protection. This part of the project was multi-disciplinary in perspective and drew upon cross-national experiences.<br> The Data Archive holds only the quantitative data from the project: the main (doorstep) questionnaire survey, the leisure centre survey, the parents' survey and the shopping centre survey. These surveys were all conducted in Northamptonshire.

本项目的研究目标如下：
1. 探究9至16岁的儿童与青少年如何“认知周遭世界”，以及他们如何利用所处空间。研究重点聚焦于“第四环境（fourth environment）”——即家庭、学校与操场之外的公共空间；
2. 考量年龄、性别、族裔、家庭结构、社会阶层以及居住区位（内城城区、城市郊区、乡村）是否会对儿童与青少年的环境使用、空间可达性、各类需求（社交、休闲、体育）、志向抱负、安全感与行为模式产生影响；同时评估父母的态度与顾虑在塑造环境机会中的作用，以揭示空间的协商式使用格局；
3. 为开发适用于研究儿童与青少年本地环境价值观、偏好与需求的恰当（且新颖）研究方法提供重要支撑，此类方法包括大规模与精细化问卷调查、小组访谈、深度讨论组、环境交流活动、环境影像记录、环境日记以及环境论坛等；
4. 探究儿童与青少年如何能够参与到（本地）环境规划进程中，尤其是通过能够赋能青少年并培养批判性反思态度的长效机制。本项目的此部分工作涉及“本地”跨机构合作与行动，一方面用于识别与儿童、青少年相关的“本地”环境议题，另一方面用于完善针对青少年的“本地”环境策略。此外，项目还以批判性与比较性视角，梳理了法国、德国、意大利、菲律宾及巴西等国的相关经验——项目团队通过直接实践与咨询项目对这些国家已有深入了解，上述国家均已设立长效机构以推动青少年参与；
5. 为两项关于青少年的理论与概念性辩论提供助力：一是将青少年视为社会中的“局外人”，二是将青少年视为能够从小践行参与式公民身份的“积极”环境主体。两项辩论均涉及赋能、机会平等与公平等议题，且均以《联合国儿童权利公约》与“本地21世纪议程（local Agenda 21）”为研究背景。此外，本项目还探究了因“公共”与“私人”空间认知转变，以及自由权与保护权二者的竞争性诉求之间产生的张力。本项目的此部分工作采用多学科视角，并借鉴了跨国实践经验。

本项目的定量数据均存储于数据档案库（Data Archive）中，包括主体（上门）问卷调查、休闲中心问卷调查、家长问卷调查以及购物中心问卷调查。所有调查均在北安普敦郡（Northamptonshire）开展。