Youth Engagement for Planners
Spring 2024 - As we prepare a Planning Advisory Service Report for the American Planning Association re: engaging children and teenagers in community planning processes, we are looking for case studies, best practices and pro-tips.
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If you have stories, resources or contacts that we should know about, please let us know
If you are in the midst of a project that could benefit from youth engagement, let's talk about supporting this as a case study profiled in this report.
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An outline of chapters is as follows;
Ch 1. Introduction
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Why should planners care about youth engagement?
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Definitions
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Road Map of the Report
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Ch 2. The Benefits of Youth Engagement
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The Current State of Youth Engagement
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How Communities Benefit from Youth Engagement
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How Young People Benefit from Youth Engagement
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How the Planning Profession Benefits from Youth Engagement​
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Sidebar: Managing Climate Anxiety
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Ch 3. Principles of Authentic Youth Engagement
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Characteristics of engaged and empowered youth
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Sidebar: Youth of Today
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Avoiding Tokenization
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Ch 4. Sites and Partners for Youth Engagement
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Bringing Community Engagement to Children and Teenagers
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Bringing Children and Teenagers to Community Engagement
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Partners in Youth Engagement
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Sidebar: Mentoring Future Planners
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Ch 5. Timelines for Youth Engagement
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Drop-In Events and Project-Specific Engagement
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Youth Forums and Ongoing Youth Engagement
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Sidebar: Time-Factor: Why a Teen’s “I Don’t Know…” has an Unspoken “…Yet”
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How Participants Might Contribute After Your Event
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Ch 6. Recruiting Youth Participants
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Whose Voices does this Project Need to Hear From?
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Eager and Easy-to-Reach Youth Participants
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Youth Participation that Represents Your Community
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Sidebar: Grade 10s or 10-Year-Olds​
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Ch 7. Preparing to Conduct Youth Engagement
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Adding to a Planner's Skillset
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Sidebar: Engaging with children and teens can be fun, inspiring and invigorating​
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Context and Expectations for Working with Youth
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Creating Spaces Where Engagement Might Deepen
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Sidebar: Tools of Technology
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Ch 8. Creating and Facilitating a Youth Engagement Process
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The Social Side of Youth Engagement
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Anticipating Follow-Up Steps
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Sidebar: Don't be Alarmed - What to Do if You Start to Panic
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Ch 9. Strategies for Different Age Groups
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Recommended practices for a Wide Age Range of Youth
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Recommended Adaptations for Children/Elementary Schoolers
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Recommended Adaptations for Teenagers/High Schoolers
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Ch 10. Case Studies of Youth Engagement​
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Ch 11. Conclusion
