Animating through Animation

Research has found that young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) suffer disproportionately high levels of social adversities and are at greater risk of involvement in crime. Whilst policy-makers across many European jurisdictions have made NEET a focus for intervention, it is only very rarely that the voice of young people flows into and shapes such interventions. In this article I reflect on my experience of working with a group of young people, living in one of Scotland’ s poorest postcode areas who were identified as highly vulnerable and at risk of falling out of education post compulsory schooling. We collaboratively produced experimental 16mm videography as a means for the participants to explore, translate, and narrate their experiences. The aim of the study was to better understand young people’s sense of identity and factors that encourage or discourage their sense of agency and inclusion in society. A key objective was to explore whether co-production in research can promote democratization and empowerment, as a way of informing policy development