YET 20

"The best is YET to come" builds on the research project YET (Youth Environment & engagement Tool) that was commissioned by the Flemish Community, Department of the Environment and fitted into the grant call "Together we imagine space." In this project, a working prototype of an application was developed in cocreation with young people from Bruges secondary schools and Howest students. The design starts from the story of young people, their environment and responds to their behavior, experience, needs and requirements for the use of space. During this project it was shown that a digital tool can provide great added value in involving young people in the design of public space. Concrete paths were therefore also worked out for the further development of the prototype with the financial support of the Department of the Environment and Department of Youth and in collaboration with the Applied Computer Science program.

For the Vital Cities research group, there is an opportunity to implement YET as a tool in methodologies (design sprints, rapid prototyping, hackathons,...). These methodologies will be developed based on the principles of deep democracy, appreciative inquiry and design thinking. In this way, together with the target group, we can arrive at innovative ideas and concepts for the design of public space. This will involve exploring how these methodologies can be transformed into concrete service packages. New technologies such as AR, VR and XR can further deepen and strengthen the application possibilities. We would like to explore this within a growth trajectory together with the TI and Hitlab research group.