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The National Research Foundation (South Africa), Fondation Botnar (Switzerland), and the Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa) have partnered to implement a research programme on young people and relational wellbeing (RWB) in urban and peri-urban environments, to be implemented during 2023-2027.
The NRF will make single country and multi-country grants available to researchers working in the 12 focal countries to study young people's wellbeing in the Global South using a Relational Wellbeing lens, through empirical work, intervention focused initiatives and conceptual projects.
The u’GOOD programme is structured into four thematic areas that act as entry points for investigations on the wellbeing of Young People: Livelihoods, Climate change, Digitalisation and Mental health
President of the Tanzanian chapter of the World Youth Parliament for Water
A Social Science Researcher and Human Rights Advocate from Morocco
Specialist for Civil Society Coalitions Building at Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
While we are not prescriptive about the specific models, theories or methodologies that need to be followed, all research projects, whether empirical or conceptual, are required to use RWB to guide their research approach. In the u’GOOD Programme, this means investing in a relational approach that prioritises 3 primary principles namely relational thinking, relational gathering and relational working (click here for additional resources).
The u’GOOD research programme will provide funding for researchers working on topics pertaining to young people and relational wellbeing in the Global South. Research projects are expected to prioritise the principles of relational wellbeing as an approach. They are expected to commit to meaningful research informed by the realities, contexts and methods emerging from the Global South and/or specifically adapted to foster and build young people’s leadership in research. The core activities of the u’Good research programme are:
To strengthen relational wellbeing as a concept and approach, the research programme aims to test various dimensions and underlying assumptions using rigorous social science and, where possible, innovative methods, to deliver the following outcomes:
We have carefully curated the resources below for additional reading on Relational Wellbeing, Young People in the Global South and Collaborative Approaches in Research.
We aim to test and further develop relational approaches to wellbeing (RWB) and generate empirical insights into key contemporary challenges to young people’s wellbeing, and how they are addressing these.
