The new book Built Environment Education for Children and Youth: Establishing the Field by Marta Brković Dodig, Angela Million and Rosie Parnell has been published by Routledge. The book provides an international overview of Built Environment Education (BEE), a field concerned with how children and young people learn about, engage with and participate in shaping architecture, cities and the built environment. It brings together pedagogical concepts and approaches with a broad range of initiatives and experiences from practice, positioning BEE within the wider fields of architectural education, Baukultur education, planning and spatial learning.
The publication is closely connected to the work the SMUS MOOC Built Environment Education for Children and Youth, which introduces international approaches to BEE and connects theory, research and educational practice. The MOOC and the research underpinning the book share an interest in understanding the diversity of pedagogical approaches through which children and young people can develop the knowledge, skills and agency to understand and shape their spatial environments.
A particular strength of both the book and the related SMUS activities is their international and practice-based perspective. We would therefore like to thank the many SMUS network partners who contributed their knowledge of BEE initiatives and educational practices from different parts of the world and who shared their experiences as interview partners. Their contributions helped broaden the empirical basis and international perspective of this work. This collaboration also extends directly into the authorship of the book: co-author Marta Brković Dodig is a member of the SMUS network and has been closely involved in developing its work on Built Environment Education.
The book brings together innovative pedagogies and real-world examples and seeks to strengthen a more coherent and inclusive understanding of Built Environment Education, recognising children and young people as spatial agents in their own right.
The book can be accessed through: https://www.routledge.com/Built-Environment-Education-for-Children-and-Youth-Establishing-the-Field/BrkovicDodig-Million-Parnell/p/book/9781138833708