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Four ‘Brighter futures, greener lives’: children and young people in UK sustainable development policy

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Abstract

In this chapter we analyse the ways in which young people are positioned in sustainable development policy. Given the emphasis on the future in policy engagements with young people, analysing the position of young people in sustainable development policy provides a lens through which to explore the temporal logics governing such policy. We draw attention to some of the implications of particular orientations to the future in contemporary policy for children and young people Our discussion is divided into the following four sections: first, drawing on recent work in geography we provide a brief outline of key debates concerning childhood/youth and sustainable development in relation to future-focused policy. We then present some background to the policy on which we base our discussion and situate this within broader policy concerning Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). We then present analysis of the document Brighter futures, greener lives (DCSF, 2008) before concluding.

Abstract

In this chapter we analyse the ways in which young people are positioned in sustainable development policy. Given the emphasis on the future in policy engagements with young people, analysing the position of young people in sustainable development policy provides a lens through which to explore the temporal logics governing such policy. We draw attention to some of the implications of particular orientations to the future in contemporary policy for children and young people Our discussion is divided into the following four sections: first, drawing on recent work in geography we provide a brief outline of key debates concerning childhood/youth and sustainable development in relation to future-focused policy. We then present some background to the policy on which we base our discussion and situate this within broader policy concerning Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). We then present analysis of the document Brighter futures, greener lives (DCSF, 2008) before concluding.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of tables, figures and boxes vii
  4. Notes on contributors viii
  5. Acknowledgements xiv
  6. Editors’ introduction: critical geographies of childhood and youth 1
  7. (Inter)national youth policies: politics and practices of spatial translation
  8. Making ‘youth publics’ and ‘neuro-citizens’: critical geographies of contemporary educational practice in the UK 27
  9. Youth policy, neoliberalism and transnational governmentality: a case study of Lesotho and Malawi 43
  10. ‘Brighter futures, greener lives’: children and young people in UK sustainable development policy 61
  11. Places to go, things to do and people to see: space and activity in English youth work policy 79
  12. Education and employment policies: learning beyond schools and schools beyond learning
  13. The place of aspiration in UK widening participation policy: moving up or moving beyond? 97
  14. School choice versus social cohesion: examining the ways education policies shape children’s geographies in the UK 115
  15. Lunchtime lock-in: territorialisation and UK school meals policies 133
  16. Informal education in compulsory schooling in the UK: humanising moments, utopian spaces? 151
  17. Intervening in ‘everyday life’: scales, practices and the ‘spatial imagination’ in youth policy and professional practice
  18. A free for all? Scale and young people’s participation in UK transport planning 169
  19. Including young people in heritage conservation in southern Brazilian cities: the case of Pelotas 185
  20. Anchoring identity: the construction of responsibility for and by young offenders in the US 199
  21. Parenting policy and the geographies of friendship: encounters in an English Sure Start Children’s Centre 215
  22. Youth homelessness policy in Wales: improving housing rights and addressing geographical wrongs 231
  23. Childhood in South Africa in the time of HIV/AIDS: reconsidering policy and practice 247
  24. Concluding reflections
  25. Concluding reflections: what next and where next for critical geographies of youth policy and practice? 265
  26. Index 271
Critical Geographies of Childhood and Youth
This chapter is in the book Critical Geographies of Childhood and Youth
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781447309079-007

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of tables, figures and boxes vii
  4. Notes on contributors viii
  5. Acknowledgements xiv
  6. Editors’ introduction: critical geographies of childhood and youth 1
  7. (Inter)national youth policies: politics and practices of spatial translation
  8. Making ‘youth publics’ and ‘neuro-citizens’: critical geographies of contemporary educational practice in the UK 27
  9. Youth policy, neoliberalism and transnational governmentality: a case study of Lesotho and Malawi 43
  10. ‘Brighter futures, greener lives’: children and young people in UK sustainable development policy 61
  11. Places to go, things to do and people to see: space and activity in English youth work policy 79
  12. Education and employment policies: learning beyond schools and schools beyond learning
  13. The place of aspiration in UK widening participation policy: moving up or moving beyond? 97
  14. School choice versus social cohesion: examining the ways education policies shape children’s geographies in the UK 115
  15. Lunchtime lock-in: territorialisation and UK school meals policies 133
  16. Informal education in compulsory schooling in the UK: humanising moments, utopian spaces? 151
  17. Intervening in ‘everyday life’: scales, practices and the ‘spatial imagination’ in youth policy and professional practice
  18. A free for all? Scale and young people’s participation in UK transport planning 169
  19. Including young people in heritage conservation in southern Brazilian cities: the case of Pelotas 185
  20. Anchoring identity: the construction of responsibility for and by young offenders in the US 199
  21. Parenting policy and the geographies of friendship: encounters in an English Sure Start Children’s Centre 215
  22. Youth homelessness policy in Wales: improving housing rights and addressing geographical wrongs 231
  23. Childhood in South Africa in the time of HIV/AIDS: reconsidering policy and practice 247
  24. Concluding reflections
  25. Concluding reflections: what next and where next for critical geographies of youth policy and practice? 265
  26. Index 271
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