Engaging with young people: constructing, conducting and translating meaningful research

Young people are frequently recognised as ‘the future’. Yet the challenges and pressures that they face - and their own understandings, responses, and ideas about them - are often dismissed or rendered invisible in many social contexts. Engaging and working with young people in research, policy, advocacy, and community projects is crucial. This workshop-style symposium will be an opportunity for conversation and reflection about how to do this work meaningfully and impactfully, and to consider the aspirations that are shaping this work’s future. 

This workshop, co-hosted by the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies and TASA's Sociology of Youth thematic group, will be a semi-structured space for researchers (HDR, early career, and established), industry practitioners, and young people to engage in critical conversations about the promise and complexities of youth-focused research. The workshop will also examine how youth research can be practiced in ethical and considered ways, and explore how to navigate its emotive and caring dimensions.

Both panel sessions will involve ~45 minutes of panel discussion and ~45 minutes of questions from the audience (both in-person and online). Panellist bios will be released closer to the date. The roundtable discussion will build on insights from earlier sessions, and bring together panellists and in-person audience members in facilitated groups focused on methodological futures in youth research. Pending numbers and interest in the roundtable discussion session, we may be able to facilitate online discussion in the afternoon.

You will have the option to select an in-person or online ticket at checkout, and online participants will be sent the link closer to the date. Please note that in-person tickets are limited due to physical space restrictions - if you can no longer attend, please cancel your ticket or email the organisers. We will not be able to facilitate last-minute distributions of the online link.

There are a limited number of travel bursaries available for youth co-researchers, HDR students, and ECRs to travel from outside of Greater Sydney to attend the event. Please fill out this form by Sunday 9 August to apply for a bursary, and we will be in touch the following week. These bursaries are supported by the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney.

Keep up to date on the event via the TASA Sociology of Youth thematic group LinkedIn page.

We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, who are the Traditional Custodians and Owners of the lands on which the in-person event is located. We recognise their continued connection to their land and waters they have taken care of for thousands of generations. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We remain committed to centring Indigenous people, their knowledges, and right to self-determination. It always was and always will be Aboriginal land.