Youth Creating Disaster Recovery: An International Community-based Participatory Research Project with Youth

• In Event: 434 - Section on Children and Youth Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 10. Policy, Practice, and Youth Well-being

Abstract

Participatory approaches to knowledge production are premised on assumptions that local actors—including both adults and youth—have knowledge and experience that is critical to understanding and changing social problems that affect these individuals and their communities. Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) incorporates community capacity building and empowerment as guiding principles of the research process. Although still underutilized in crisis and post-disaster settings, this approach may be particularly effective for working with populations living in disrupted environments. Youth have historically been understudied and often excluded in disaster research practice. Yet, a growing body of evidence suggests that they want to be actively engaged and when they are, can contribute in myriad ways to their own preparedness and recovery processes. This paper tells the story of one initiative aimed at learning from and with youth about their post-disaster recovery experiences. Youth Creating Disaster Recovery (YCDR) is a newly established youth recovery and youth empowerment program. Located in the communities of Joplin, Missouri in the United States and Slave Lake, Alberta, in Canada, YCDR engages youth between the ages of 13-18 in creative activities and workshop engagement sessions. In addition to describing the research studies, this paper also identifies the successes and challenges associated with engaging directly with youth in disaster affected settings.

Authors

• Lori Peek, Colorado State University

• Jennifer Lynn Tobin-Gurley, Colorado State University