Built Environment Education for Children and Youth Establishing the Field

1. Background:  Definitions and Exploding Histories of BEE

2. Networks and Private Practice: Expanding the Blueprint of BEE

3. Professional Bodies and Architecture Centres: Building Shared Cultures

4. Museums: In Play we Trust?

5. Out-of-School Clubs: Spinning the World in the Opposite Direction

6. Schools: BEE Trojan Horses

7. Universities: Classmates from Other Grades

8.  Establishing the Field of BEE: Critical Futures

Biography

Marta Brković Dodig is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Faculty for Media and Communication, Singidunum University and the founding director of the NGO ARQubator in Belgrade, Serbia. Sharing her living and working time between Serbia and Switzerland, she also works as a scientific collaborator at the EMPA Technology and Society Lab. With experience spanning academia, the NGO sector, and design practices across Europe and the USA, she drives research and action on school and learning space design, sustainable architecture, participatory design, architectural activism, built environment education for children, Baukultur, and research methods in architecture and urban planning—particularly research by design and game-based approaches. Her previous book The Routledge Companion to Games in Architecture and Urban Planning curated an international compendium that bridges theory and practice in game-based approaches to architecture and urban planning. Marta currently leads a research project Architecture and Urbanism as Outside Curricula Sites funded by the Science Fund of Serbia, as well as the development of a gamified Baukultur toolbox in the Building Together project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Angela Million is urban designer and urban planner, Professor of Urban Design and Urban Development at TU Berlin, Germany, and Director of the DAAD-Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (SMUS), where she also initiated a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Built Environment Education (BEE). Her research focuses on participatory urban design, with a special interest in cities as educational settings, social infrastructure, as well as children and youth. Previous research has explored learning processes in built environment education and its outcomes. Her current work examines educational landscapes, well-being, and neuro-urbanism, as well as the changing spatial knowledge and online, offline and hybrid spatial constructions of young people within the Collaborative Research Center 1265 Refiguration of Spaces. Angela is a founding member of JAS Jugend Architektur Stadt e.V., a non-profit association dedicated to architecture and built environment education and participation for children and youth.

Rosie Parnell is Professor of Architecture and Pedagogy at Newcastle University, UK, a founding member of PLAYCE and an Associate of Thornton Education Trust. Her research, teaching and practice combine interests in children’s spaces, co-design and architecture education.  Previous research has explored children’s engagement in spatial design, the potential of built environment education (BEE) in schools and youth groups, and families’ experiences of domestic space during lockdown. Rosie currently leads a university module involving architecture students in participatory action research with children, teachers and support staff in schools to build BEE capacity among all participants, co-developing resources and strengthening understanding of BEE through collaboration.

"This book is a game-changer for Built Environment Education! Blending research, real-world practice, and global perspectives, the authors provide much-needed structure to the field. The UIA Architecture and Children Work Programme recognizes its vital impact—not just for architects and educators, but for all who believe in building a more humanized, reflective, and just world through active participation, play, fun, and learning activities, which empower children to actively shape the future of the built environment."

Mina Sava and Carolina Pizarro, International Union of Architects, Architecture & Children Work Programme

"Built Environment Education for Children and Youth: Establishing the Field explores how young learners engage with architecture and design—not through passive instruction, but through exploration, experimentation, and even failure. Failure isn’t the end; it’s the beginning of mastery. By allowing children to struggle productively with spatial challenges, built environment education (BEE) fosters deeper spatial literacy, creativity, and critical thinking. Bringing together global perspectives, this book shapes a cohesive framework for BEE, turning fragmented efforts into a shared vision. For educators, policymakers, and practitioners, it’s an invitation to rethink learning—because true understanding comes not from avoiding failure, but from learning through it."

Manu Kapur, Director of the Singapore-ETH Center, Professor for Learning Sciences and Higher Education at ETH Zurich, Switzerland

"The built environment supports everyday learning through an international language based on "silent messages." Built Environment Education aims to instil an active awareness of these messages, so that children and youth not only hear, but also listen to their surroundings; not only look, but also see and subsequently understand the spaces and places that they inhabit. This book offers rich insights and diverse ideas for teachers, educationalists, practitioners and facilitators interested in contributing to this dynamic field. For children and youth it represents an important call to get involved in shaping their own built environments."

Henry Sanoff, AIA, Professor Emeritus of Architecture, ACSA/Alumni Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University, USA

"This book highlights Built Environment Education (BEE) as an important educational field by connecting theory with practice. It provides educators, researchers, and policymakers with essential tools to promote meaningful interactions between children and their built environments. In doing so, this text lays the groundwork for incorporating aesthetic, cultural, and ecological awareness into children's everyday learning experiences."

Guillermo Marini, Associate Professor, School of Education, UC Chile

"Children create spaces – playfully, imaginatively, and with a spirit of discovery. In doing so, they engage with key themes of life and development, experiencing the built environment in their own unique way. They develop a wide range of spatial competences and an awareness of the malleability and transformability of their surroundings. How they can be supported and encouraged in this process is clearly presented in this publication on BEE pedagogy – historically grounded, methodologically skilled, and interdisciplinary across cultural boundaries. The aim is to enable spatial learning in a situated, place-based, and playful manner. A fascinating work that will enrich professional spatial practices – from social pedagogy and youth work to neighbourhood development and socio-cultural initiatives – while forging diverse connections with planning-related professions and ways of thinking."

Christian Reutlinger, Professor of Urban Health at the Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, Institute for Social Work and Health, The University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland

"Few people consider the built environment and those that do, often think of it as a passive envelope for their lives. However, it is much more potent than that. It can shape their opportunities, challenges and experiences of inclusion - for example. This is particularly powerful in childhood and adolescence when expansive environmental opportunities can actively support development, learning and the beginnings of lifelong patterns for wellbeing. Teaching children about the built environment so that they can actively engage with developing it and determining its form, functions and opportunities; recognising children as active agents in their own experience is an empowering approach with benefits for both young people and their environments. This book fills a special niche and makes a wonderful contribution to the development of environmental education for children and young people."

Kate Bishop, Professor at the School of Built Environment, Faculty of Arts, Architecture and Design, UNSW Sydney, Australia

"How and What do children and young people learn about their built environment as they grow up? This engagingly designed analysis provides readers with all the essential and international insights on the topic. Beyond that: How do educators and planners create stimulating and supportive learning environments to pass on our diverse Baukultur? On this, too, the compilation by the three renowned authors offers numerous tips and reflections. This is how Baukultur is formed and cultivated."

Thomas Coelen, Professor of Socialization, Youth Education, and Life Course Research, Department of Education, University of Siegen, Germany