Carol Leonard

B.A. (Honours) NUI, Galway (2003-2006) M.Litt NUI Galway (2009)                                email: c.leonardnuigalway.ie

M.Litt Research

Carol completed her M.Litt study in 2009. This research explored the notion that children are excluded from certain public spaces and places in Ireland, arising from their exclusion from the planning process. It investigated whether the planned aspects of these spaces were designed around the perceptions and desires of children, or were merely the result of a ’collaborative’ process that reflected a predominantly ’adult’ view.

Carol endeavoured to explore a relatively unresearched area in children’s geography, as it investigated the importance of including children in the planning process from an Irish perspective, and attempted to illustrate how children may be a valuable resource in constructing the built environment for both themselves and the generation that will follow. Despite recent efforts to include children in the planning process and in policy making as part of a wider agenda aiming to encourage participatory governance and democracy, it is apparent that in many ways this is merely tokenistic. This research explored these aspects in an Irish context through investigating the extent to which children are in reality included in the planning process.