Children and Young People’s Perceptions of Risk and Quality of Life Conditions in Their Communities: Participatory Mapping Cases in Portugal

Emerging concerns of international organizations, such as the UNICEF child-friendly cities movement, include the recognition of children and young people as a vulnerable group in society, and an emphasis on policies and actions for them to thrive in a safe environment. However, policy and planning responses do not always take into account the perceptions and local knowledge that children and young people already have about their community and quality-of-life conditions. The aim of this chapter is to present an analytical framework that includes the concepts of community well-being/quality-of-life/risk together with the application of participatory mapping methodology. The framework is informed by quality of life studies, children’s geography, and participatory mapping perspectives. We argue that this multidisciplinary lens is required to translate children’s and young people’s views and visions about their own communities into effective urban action plans. We illustrated the analytical framework with case studies, where innovative approaches elicit children’s and young people’s viewpoints that are meaningful for planning. From the cases we studied in Portugal, we learn that participatory approaches stimulate children and young people to critically and actively involve with their community in the identification of problems as well as in the co-design of solutions. Schoolchildren’s perceptions of risks in their urban environment were elicited through PGIS (participatory GIS) and web applications to geographically describe and explain sites and causes of risk. We conclude by presenting the potentials of participatory mapping of children’s and young people’s perceptions and the challenges of integrating participatory approaches.