UCL PEARL Hosts Inaugural Dagenham and Rainham Youth Conference
- dkwakye
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
On Friday, 14 March, UCL Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Dagenham East hosted the inaugural Dagenham and Rainham Youth Conference, bringing together secondary schools and colleges across the constituency. Organised in collaboration with local MP Margaret Mullane, the event aimed to empower young people to share their views on the issues they face to envision the future they want for their area.
UCL PEARL is a unique, flexible facility designed to explore how people interact with their environment. The laboratory offers an extensively customisable space that can simulate different lighting, sound, smell, and physical features—allowing researchers to create real-scale experiences and study how our brains and senses respond to the world around us. Its ability to create realistic settings makes it a perfect space to quite literally shape the future of our area, providing an ideal setting for a conference focused on community engagement and practical problem-solving.
Nick Tyler, Director of PEARL, Director of the UCL Centre for Transport Studies, and Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering began the day by welcoming students to the laboratory, describing the innovative work happening in their borough with local people—through both research and community projects—before leading a demonstration of PEARL’s capabilities with light and sound. The immersive introduction set the tone for the event, inspiring attendees to consider how they, too, could use creativity and research to improve their community.
Guest speakers at the Youth Conference included Claire Hough—an entrepreneurial dancer who has performed at the Brit Awards—Olympic and now professional boxer Billy ‘Boom Boom’ Adam, the community-focused initiative Elevate Her, The Habbitat Factory, and the campaigning organisation Hope Not Hate. Each speaker shared personal stories and messages designed to encourage students to think boldly about their future career and life opportunities.
Following the speaker sessions, delegates took part in interactive workshops to discuss three core questions:
· What are the biggest issues affecting young people today?
· If you could change one thing in the area tomorrow, what would it be?
· What do you want to do after education?
Participants frequently raised concerns about both online and physical safety, together with the need for more diverse and skilled job opportunities. Students also expressed a wide range of ambitions—from engineering and medicine to the arts—demonstrating a genuine commitment to personal growth and community improvement. Margaret Mullane MP concluded that the responses will be fed into the ‘Deliver You’ National Youth Strategy currently being consulted on by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport.
Representatives from UCL PEARL closed the conference by thanking students for their enthusiasm and engagement. The resounding success of this inaugural Youth Conference highlights the laboratory’s potential as a hub for innovation and dialogue—and paves the way for the next generation’s ideas to shape the future of Dagenham and Rainham’s urban environment.
Article Credit: Santa Maria Roelle
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