Description of impact
We aim to inform and shift public perspective on children’s social identities by presenting findings from our British Academy funded Helping Kids! project: Generation Peace – European Identities. This project explores children’s perspectives of, and attachment to, different national and ethnic identities across four conflict-affected societies that have different relations with the European Union (Northern Ireland, Croatia, Kosovo and the Republic of North Macedonia). Using the Draw-and-Tell method (e.g., Driessnack, 2006), children drew pictures exploring the topics ‘peace’ and ‘Europe’ and responded to open-ended questions about their understanding of a local or ethnic identity and their European identity.We will disseminate findings to the wider public by displaying children’s drawings about ‘peace’ and ‘Europe’ for the public in an interactive Hybrid Mobile Art Exhibit at the Belfast International Arts Festival (October-November 2021). The exhibit will be accompanied by key quotes from child interviews. We will create dialogue with children, parents, and the wider public through 1) an in-person post-it wall for visitors to share the reactions to the exhibit, and 2) conducting a social media campaign to highlight snapshots of different drawings/findings/quotes from the Exhibit and elicit feedback. Key stakeholders from our Local Advisory Council will be invited to collaborate. The impact of the exhibits will be evaluated via (a) pre- and post-survey, (b) anonymous post-it response wall, and (c) analysing social media likes, shares, and replies.
Who is affected
This project aims to shift perspectives of children, parents, teachers, and local community groups about children’s identities in conflict-affected settings of Europe and their capacity to contribute to peacebuilding through a shared European identity| Impact status | In preparation |
|---|---|
| Impact date | May 2022 → Sept 2022 |
| Category of impact | Societial Impact |
| Impact level | Engagement |
Keywords
- children
- drawings
- Europe