MATT+FIONA is a social enterprise run by architect Matt Springett and architect/educator Fiona MacDonald. Their approach to involving young people in placemaking is one that offers lessons for anyone looking to move beyond a tokenistic, after-the-fact ‘community consultation’ model.

Since 2016, the duo’s organisation has been developing new ways to help young people have a meaningful say in decisions about the built environment. Believing ‘children and young people have something to offer, and to learn, at every stage of the process of making buildings and shaping places’, they have developed signature working methods: ‘Build’, ‘Learn’, and – as exemplified here – ‘Connect’, an engagement programme designed to embed young people’s ideas into the design process.

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