Encounter as empowerment: a critical approach to participatory design research with marginalised youth

This paper presents participatory design research conducted with marginalized young people from São Paulo, Brazil. The project consisted of two activities that used mapping and board games to explore instabilities and uncertainties in the participants' communities. The workshops aimed to foster encounters and highlight the capabilities and agency of young people. The resulting visual methods captured the participants' experiences of the urban landscape, demonstrating the potential for participatory design research to address social issues and empower marginalized communities