Editors' Introduction

The CYE Editors

Citation: “Editors’ Introduction.” Children, Youth and Environments 14(2), 2004. Retrieved [date] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/

This Issue

The papers in this issue illustrate the broad interests of CYE readers. Topics include: influences of built and natural environments on children’s after-school activities and motor development (Blinkert; Fjørtoft), access to child-care environments (Smith and Barker), the intertwining of social and physical structures in the evolution of gender-related role patterns among low-caste youth in India (Ganguly-Scrase), and the potential of computer technology in enhancing environmental learning and science education (Rogers and Price; Eisenhart and Edwards). Authors report the use of a variety of methods, among them, participatory action research (Checkoway and Richards-Schuster; Morgan et al.). Participation by young people is also considered in a report on a design-build workshop (Parnell) and the creation of an urban community garden (Pothukuchi). It is impossible to know whether the environments of children and youth are changing, for better or for worse, unless there is regular data collection that permits ongoing or periodic monitoring of prevailing conditions. The State of London’s Children reports (Hood) are a good example of work to this end, while the paper on child-friendly cities in Canada (Bridgman) seeks to identify good practices that may hold lessons for communities elsewhere.

Readership and Access

CYE has readers in 98 countries all over the world. They access the journal frequently: more than 120 independent sessions each day and nearly 45,000 sessions during the last year.¹ We remain committed to providing free access while maintaining high standards to ensure quality content. The journal is now published with the support of the Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design at the University of Colorado at Denver-Health Sciences Center. We also received a modest grant from the Open Society Institute to help fund contributions from authors in countries in which the Soros Foundation is active.

Submissions

Since CYE's online launch in June of 2003, we have received 106 submissions. Of these, 81 (76 percent) were sent out for double-blind review. Our editorial response typically followed within three months; 4 percent of submissions were accepted for publication after only minor revisions; 31 percent were rejected. We requested that 37 papers (35 percent of all submissions) be revised to respond to detailed feedback. We accepted 22 papers as field reports (21 percent of all submissions), usually after requested revisions were made. The Editorial Advisory Board and other external referees play a crucial role in the review and publication process and we are grateful for their dedicated support.

Overview of submissions to CYE from launch in June 2003 through November 2004

Theme Issues

In addition to continuing to publish collected papers on various topics, future issues of CYE will focus attention on specific themes:

• Volume 15, no. 1: Environmental health
• Volume 15, no. 2: Local governance
• Volume 16, no. 1-2: Participation

We invite proposals for themes for future issues and inquiries about the possibility of guest editing.

Editorial News

We would like to welcome Louise Chawla as an Associate Editor. Louise has long been involved with CYE and its predecessor edition published by the Children's Environments Group (CERG) at the City University of New York. She brings a wealth of editorial experience and expertise. Her work provides oft-cited examples of public scholarship which connects research to real-world concerns. Mark Blades has joined as a new member of the Editorial Advisory Board. He contributed a number of very insightful reviews of manuscripts submitted during the past year and adds terrific expertise from developmental and environmental psychology. Responding to strong reader interest in Reports from the Field, we created the position of Field Report Editor. This new editorial function will give implementation of this element of CYE's mission the attention that it deserves and needs. We are delighted that Caitlin Cahill from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York has agreed to become the Field Report Editor, starting next Spring. Caitlin is finishing her dissertation about the everyday lives of young women in the city. Her research interests include the intersecting areas of young people's experiences of the urban environment, the production of race and gender in public space, and collaborative and participatory approaches to doing research. Her broad perspective and grasp of the field promise an exciting future for the journal's field reports, whose aim it is to support the sharing of experience and facilitate the transfer of knowledge and learning of lessons from projects and programs across places (see guidelines for Field Reports).

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