Youth, Diversity and Wellbeing in a Digital Age
We investigate the key issues facing diverse young people and their communities, their civic and political uses of the internet and digital media, and young people’s role as change leaders in building resilient and inclusive societies.
What role do young people play in contributing to resilience and social cohesion? What are the key issues facing diverse young people today? How can young people be supported to build a productive sense of social belonging, enhance their civic and political participation, and promote their resilience to social harms, on- and off-line?
Our Approach
We use a collaborative Living Lab co-research and engagement approach to establish our research and program agenda. Engaging young people at all stages of our research allows us to better understand relationships between young people’s local worlds, transnational networks, online communities and strategies for enhancing resilience, social cohesion, belonging and participation.
Designed for and with young people, we evaluate:
Youth-focused social cohesion
Digital literacy
Digital and global citizenship
Resilience and preventing social harms research
Initiatives, programs, curricula and interventions
Our Current Project
Imagining the Future and Young People’s Wellbeing and Resilience
The future is a powerful construct that shapes how different social actors conceive, plan for and respond to both challenges and opportunities here and now. But, for young people today, the idea of the future is increasingly fraught: How does growing up in times characterised by pandemic, automated decision making, climate change, under- and un-employment, the rising cost of living and political polarisation affect young people’s sense of the future? And how, in turn, do diverse ideas about the future shape young people’s hope, resilience and wellbeing? A certain paradox exists here: young people are said to represent the future, yet are far too often excluded from having a say in the decisions that impact their future. Young people want those in power to listen to them; they have expressed disappointment that their voices had not been considered (Burnet Institute and VicHealth, 2020; UNICEF Australia, 2020). We need to bring young people into the conversations about their futures to better understand their hopes and how they can be best supported to achieve them.
This project builds upon and extends survey insights from almost 2,000 young people aged 12-18 generated in our 2023 project, Hope and Resilience in Young Australians. Over 18 months, we will further investigate young Australian’s (12 – 18) hopes and aspirations for the future, in particular: how young people are imagining the future in relation to the key domains of technology, employment, financial possibilities and pressures, education, health, family, relationships and friendships, and the natural environment. The project will explore the consequences of these imaginings for youth mental health, wellbeing and resilience.
Our Completed Projects
Foundation PRoject
Building Activist Capacities for Young People through Issue-Based Campaigns
Game On: A study to investigate how online competitive gaming in a supported learning environment can foster young people’s holistic development, mental health, and wellbeing
Masculinities and Social Cohesion
Objects for Everyday Resilience
Enhancing Digital Participation amongst Refugee & Migrant Background Youth
Building Solidarities with Young People through Activist Creative Knowledges
Publications
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