‘Cynefin, a Sense of Place', a National, Cultural, Public Education Programme to Ensure Young Peoples Voices Are at the Heart of Decision Making

AIMS: ‘Cynefin’ has many layers of meaning – it's a Welsh noun with no direct equivalent in English. The word conjures a very personal 'sense of place', belonging, familiarity, and relationship to the place of your birth or upbringing.The new school curriculum in Wales encourages young people to gain a fuller understanding of their identities, communities and histories that come together to form their 'cynefin'.Our aim was to develop a national and cultural programme of public education, co-produced with young people, that enabled them to explore issues that matter to them; whilst ensuring that these issues were at the heart of decision making in the national parliament of Wales ‘Senedd’. METHODS: Through a series of design workshops and evaluation, a diverse programme of public education was created by the Royal College of Psychiatrists Wales, Technology Enabled Care (TEC) Cymru, and co-produced with young people. The programme engaged 230 participants and was delivered across different mediums, including topical school debates; YouTube videos of facilitated discussion on areas of relationships, loneliness, finance, and body image. Further formal opportunities were created for secondary school pupils in giving consideration for careers in mental health e.g inception of a youth advisory group in TEC Cymru, establishing of a mental health research award for sixth form students and a summer school programme. The debates were complimented through further creative opportunities. The National Children's Laureate undertook a series of creative workshops with Schools, capturing themes that were then animated and shared through social media campaigns. The whole programme was delivered bilingually, in English and Welsh, and showcased at the URDD National Eisteddfod. RESULTS: The programme captured a series of issues that are important to young people, whilst it has informed and influenced the development of the National educational curriculum in Wales, and gave opportunity to directly inform Senedd members. The programme informed the creation of the Senedd Cross-Party Group on Climate, Nature & Wellbeing that is co-chaired by a Senedd member and the Youth Climate Ambassadors. The young people who attended the Senedd Summer School have been successful in applications to their first-choice university studies, whilst the recipient of the research award is now attending medical school. CONCLUSION: A co-produced programme of public education can be both enriching for young people and serves to inform key government policy. It is a great way of engaging young people and destigmatising mental illness and related myths.