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This paper offers a new child‐centred methodology that explores children's visions of their futures, encourages self‐reflection and depth and shares children's voices with peers and researchers, as unbrokered as possible. This final stage of a longitudinal, arts‐based, social science‐informed project was delivered by partnering with schools in socially disadvantaged areas of Bristol, a UK city. Our two‐phase activity used a Tree metaphor to explore children's hopes, ambitions and support, looking forward to recovery from the COVID‐19 pandemic. The analysis combined multi‐disciplinary thematic and visual‐narrative analysis, and revealed diversity, intersection and individuality in themes that scaled out from the child and their family over different timescales. Themes included emotion (concerns; empathy), experiences (happenings, resources skills; aspirations) and relationships, linked to their recent experiences of COVID‐19 mitigation. The paper reflects critically on children's and researchers' positionality, and the complexities involved in developing research methods that encourage children's autonomy, agency and authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critically reflecting upon a performance piece enacted by the author, this paper explores the value of artistic practice as a means for undertaking research. The performance was a piece of GPS drawing, using the movement of a body in space to write the word ‘RIDE’ across the city, subsequently represented in the form of a map. Scholars working in mobilities have increasingly been opening up the spaces of transport to critical enquiry, revealing the practices and powers enmeshed in the everyday activity of moving from A-to-B. This paper argues that in using a bicycle ride to create an art work – even one of little aesthetic merit – the author was able to create a new understanding of cycling practices that would not be captured through conventional social science techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Photovoice is an arts-based participatory action research method that uses photography as a means for individuals, usually those facing marginalization, to document and foster group dialogue around the stories of their valuable lived experiences. This paper details a photovoice project run under the participatory planning project NeighbourPLAN, in Peterborough, Ontario, with the residents of the Downtown Jackson Creek group. The focus of the photovoice project was working with residents facing various forms of marginalization and barriers to reflect on what (dis)connections look like in their community. The findings conclude that photovoice generated new subjectivities, as residents reported feeling more connected to their community after taking photos. The process was generative in that it reminded residents of other creative outlets that they enjoyed doing and inspired them to engage with creative reflection in other ways. The findings also determined that green spaces, non-judgmental institutions, accessible amenities, safe housing, and well-maintained streets were critical for resident researchers’ feelings of connectedness. I conclude with recommendations from the residents’ feedback on the method and project, along with highlighting the promising potential of arts-based and storytelling methods when conducting research with marginalized groups.

Being an informal caregiver to a loved one with an illness, disease, or chronic disability is a rewarding but frequently stressful experience. In this design research project, caregivers participated in a half-day workshop to (1) share their caregiving experience, (2) reflect on the potential of a mobile smartphone ‘app’ for carers and (3) co-design this app, as well as in-depth interviews. Our design research process used multiple arts-based methods, including visual experience mapping tools, storytelling, photo-elicitation, documentary photography, cartoons, drawing, and research poetry, to provide rich and empathic insight into daily life as a caregiver and illuminate the potential of technology. Workshop activities included creating a visual collage of lived experience, annotated visual maps illustrating the reality and misconceptions of caregiving, pathways of care, and mapping a day in their life using the visual metaphor of a clock. Carers then trialled and provided feedback on a prototype app, creating a collective map of desired features. This co-design feedback informed the final app design, which was formally launched at a public exhibition showcasing stories collected from our arts and design-led processes. This paper outlines the value of arts and design methods in the design of future health technologies, which provide a critical space for an informed, reflexive, and empathic dialogue about illness and caregiving, resulting in designs that truly met consumer’s needs.