Cultivating Trusted Adults: Co-Designing a Sustainable Mentoring Framework to Mitigate Youth Climate Distress Across Leicester’s Urban Commons

About the project

About the Project About the project Young people growing up in low-income urban neighbourhoods are facing a growing mental health challenge. Around one in five young people in the UK now experience a probable mental health disorder, and many also feel anxious about climate change, often called "climate stress". At the same time, households on low incomes are twice as likely to lack access to local green spaces. Traditional approaches to youth mental health often overlook how community-led green spaces could help. This PhD project will explore how taking part in community-led food-growing spaces can protect and support young people's mental wellbeing. It builds on a previous pilot which found that "trusted adults" are the main reason young people stay engaged. The researcher will work with Peace of Green CIC, whose allotment site (the Neighbourhood Nook) is a base for this work, to co-design a mentor training framework for frontline practitioners. Many community organisations rely on volunteers without formal qualifications, who face time and cost barriers to training and can experience burnout, emotional strain and high turnover without the right support. The project will compare two contrasting Leicester communities: a historically white, working-class neighbourhood with very limited contact with nature, and a densely populated, ethnically diverse community. Over three years, the researcher will carry out fieldwork in community allotments and urban food-growing hubs, gathering qualitative data on connection to nature, stress reduction and mentoring relationships. By looking at how young people and mentors interact in these different settings, the project will map which environmental, cultural and relational factors help young people's mental health. Working with the University of Leicester Business School, the project will apply human resource management principles to develop a practical blueprint for training, supporting and sustaining grassroots mentors. The research aims to give community organisations realistic, evidence-informed tools that reduce the local impact of youth climate stress. This project has been co-created with and is supported by researchers from De Montfort University and the University of Leicester, and partners at Peace of Green CIC. The successful candidate for this project will be enrolled at De Montfort University. Project Aims and Objectives The project objectives are: Investigate how socio-economically deprived and marginalised young people experience climate stress and nature detachment. Comparing engagement barriers across two distinct Leicester contexts (ethnically diverse Highfields vs. white working-class Stocking Farm) to establish an empirical baseline. Analyse the psychological mechanics of community-led food-growing spaces in mitigating eco-anxiety, preserving wellbeing, and fostering climate agency among vulnerable youth. Map key "trusted adult" mentoring competencies and boundary-management skills to co-design an HRM-driven training framework that prevents volunteer burnout and upscales capacity in grassroots environmental CICs. What is Collaboratory? Collaboratory is a research programme, led by Universities for Nottingham and the Leicester Universities Partnership, that places community knowledge and experience at the heart of research. This eight-year initiative is pioneering a new approach to collaboration, working closely with local communities and community-focused organisations to develop and deliver research that addresses the needs and priorities of local communities. Who are we looking for? Collaboratory aims to bridge the gap between academia and communities through a holistic programme of co-created research that actively embeds public groups within its research. As we strive to establish an innovative approach to conducting PhD research, we seek candidates who can demonstrate a deep knowledge of and commitment to Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland and communities. Prospective candidates should demonstrate the extent to which they meet the project competencies, detailed in the full advert on the Collaboratory website. How to Apply Applications to all Collaboratory 2027 PhD studentships must be submitted through our online applications portal. It is strongly recommended that prospective applicants attend one of the online support sessions, prior to submitting their application. Full details of the Collaboratory programme, studentship funding, eligibility criteria and link to the application form can be found on our website at collaboratoryresearchhub.ac.uk/2027-studentships. Applications open at 11am on Monday, 5th October 2026 and close at 11:59 pm on Sunday, 29th November 2026.

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