Intergenerational Participatory Approach Through Childhood and Its Reminiscence

This study investigates how participatory design and play are mobilized to cultivate intergenerational empathy and dialogue, with a particular focus on children’s present and future wellbeing.

Adopting a researchthrough-design approach, the project engages with material traces, memories, and the phase of childhood as mediating elements for intergenerational understanding and care. Through participatory processes involving both children and adults, the research employs practice based methods to explore the meaning-making. The initial hypothesis suggests how creative engagements can foster emotional resonance and understanding of the concerns and situations faced by younger generations. The study contributes to child-centered and intergenerational design discourses by proposing an empathetic, care and practice-oriented approach to design for wellbeing.

Fostering childhood wellbeing and development forms a crucial foundation for building safe and sustainable societies (UNICEF, 2023). Wellbeing extends beyond physical health to include emotional balance, supportive relationships, and life satisfaction, capturing both children’s material conditions and their lived experiences of feeling safe and valued. Moreover, supporting children’s growth is essential for realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015), particularly “Good Health and Wellbeing” (SDG 3) and “Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All” (SDG 4). Promoting emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development enables children to navigate present and future challenges, while nurturing safe, healthy environments provides essential conditions for growth (UNCRC, 1989; Blatchford et al., 2010). Yet, achieving integrated approaches to sustainability remains complex (Weiland et al., 2021), and time is limited to make meaningful progress.

Hayward’s (2020) notion of the “social handprint” illustrates that sustainable transformation relies on renewing democratic and participatory forms of citizenship. Similarly, Grant and Fox (1992; see also Dorst, 2011; Mazé, 2019) emphasize designers’ responsibility in shaping sustainable transformations, while Minder and Lassen (2018) stress the necessity of multidisciplinary collaboration. Cachia (2016) further argues that individuals can enact change through conviction, whereas Nilsson and Eriksson (2021) highlight implicit biases in design and advocate for inclusive, representative methodologies. Building on these perspectives, this research strengthens intergenerational engagement to foster empathy for present and future social and environmental conditions. It argues that social transformation is an intergenerational endeavor, grounded in collective responsibility and shared dialogue across ages and cultures (Rasinski, 1989; see also Rillera Marzo, 2024).

The conceptual framework of this doctoral project fulfills a dual intergenerational function: it supports children’s active participation while engaging adults in emotional and reflective connections with their own childhoods to empathize with younger generations. Through participatory engagement between adults and children, the research integrates an empathy-driven perspective that deepens awareness of adults’ responsibility for the legacies they create. As Hartman et al. (2017) propose, empathy acts as a catalyst for innovation and educational sustainability, fostering environments that promote social engagement and wellbeing across generations.