What can I do for my community? Contributing to the promotion of civic engagement through participatory methodologies: The case of young people from border regions of mainland Portugal

Abstract

This article explains how participatory approaches can promote civic engagement among young people, resulting from their active involvement in the research process, namely identifying their communities' priorities and problems. Five project‐building sessions were held with young people from five contexts located in the border regions of mainland Portugal. The data supporting this article were collected during sessions dedicated to identifying and exploring community‐based problems and priorities and designing projects to address those local challenges. The results show the importance of contextualising young people's experiences and priorities, here related to their own community and its well‐being and development. It is here that using participatory methodologies can create opportunities for young people to participate in processes of community change.