Development Days
Pathways to Health brings together academics, civic leaders, health professionals, NGOs and cultural organisations to learn from young people (age 11–16) in Southampton. Culture-based health and wellbeing opportunities for young people vary across the city, and understanding of these opportunities differs between young people and adults. The project works to understand what culture means to young people (age 11–16) and how they use place-based cultural assets. We use that understanding to reimagine cultural provision within an integrated care system, and to identify ways that young people can use culture for self-care to reduce future health challenges.
The Pathways Consortium comes together once a month throughout the project to explore key issues through a Development Day. Each Development Day is led by a different member of the leadership team, allowing them to share expertise and ‘knotty problems’ with the consortium as a whole.
DD1: John Hansard Gallery 29.11.22
The John Hansard Gallery hosted our first development day, which brought together the consortium for the first time. We considered:
What outcomes do you want from the consortium for young people?
What outcomes do you want from the consortium for your organisation?
What outcomes do you want from the consortium for the consortium as a whole?
We will build on answers to these questions to develop a consortium vision.
DD2: Southampton Voluntary Services 10.01.22
Development Day 2 was held at Southampton Voluntary Services. It focussed on outcomes and outcome measures for the consortium, for organisations within the consortium, and for working with young people at the intersection between culture and health.
Image: : Pathways to Health working on a plausible futures exercise.
DD3: Avenue Campus 3.2.23
Development Day 3 took place at Avenue Campus, University of Southampton. Led by ArtsWork, it used creative methods to explore what we want cultural and creative provision to look like in Southampton and how we can build a community of good practice.
Image: Pathways to Health in a ‘human clay’ exercise modelling current and ideal creative and cultural provision in Southampton.
DD4: God's House Tower 28.02.23
Development Day 4 was led by Southampton City Council Communities Team. In the first half of the day the Consortium discussed data arising from the UNICEF Child Friendly Southampton consultation. We explored expectations, barriers and potential for transforming the experiences of young people in Southampton. In the second half we considered data around serious crime in the city and the role of cultural interventions in reducing young peoples’ involvement in crime. The Consortium also discussed recent Love Where You Live events, how these could involve young people and create positive networks through cultural engagement.
Image: Sallie White leads a Consortium data gathering exercise on existing provision related to Child Friendly Southampton badges.
DD5: Barclays Network Eagle Lab 29.03.23
No Limits led Development Day 5 and focussed our attention on experiences of being young. The discussion was framed around young people’s social fields, cultural capital and contextual safeguarding. We explored their relationship to cultural experience and to heath. We discussed the importance of seeing the world through young people’s eyes and how this could, and should, inform commissioning for young people.
Image: Thinking about social fields and contextual safeguarding at Development Day 5
DD6: Southampton Central Library 27.04.23
Development Day 6 began with a presentation by Harry Kutty, Headteacher of Cantell School. He told us how the experience of COVID has permanently changed ways of working and the role of schools in developing trustful relationships with local communities. We discussed ways that schools might use their estates to support young people’s health and wellbeing. Michelle Smith, Artistic Director and Founder of Theatre for Life led a session exploring how to work with young people to co-create and deliver effective culture for health education interventions. In the final part of the day, the young researchers interviewed the adult consortium members as part of their research training. Several of the young researchers are planning to use interviews in their data collection.
DD7: Testlands Wellbeing Hub 18.05.23
Development Day 7 took place at Testlands Wellbeing Hub. Led by Debbie Chase, Director of Public Health for Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIoW) ICB and Southampton City Council, and Kate Harvey and Ravita Taheem from Southampton City Council Public Health team, we focussed on the integration of the consortium with HIoW ICS and city public health strategies, as well as evaluation and systems change. We worked with the young researchers to understand the role of culture in young people’s socio-ecological systems.
DD8: LifeLab 19.06.23
The young researchers met at Lifelab (Southampton General Hospital) to work on their data analysis and to prepare conference posters as part of the young researcher training programme.
DD9: University of Southampton 04.07.23
The consortium met at University of Southampton to reflect on we have learned and next steps for the consortium. Pathways researchers Cara Black, Frances Breen, Pujitha Kanakam, Laila Kawadja, Naomi Leonard and Sarah Oresnik presented Pathways research findings. The peer researchers presented their research as scientific posters in a mini-conference.
