This toolkit was published by the City of Vancouver and the International Centre for Sustainable Cities.

HERE’S HOW THE CREATORS DESCRIBE THIS TOOLKIT:

This toolkit addresses barriers to youth engagement by providing practical ideas that are effective and easy to use, and have been tested in the field by community organizations and cities.

This resource manual is written for adults who wish to engage youth in community planning. In the last decade, there has been a growing recognition by planners and community development practitioners that youth are an important population to involve in the planning of their communities. Researchers have shown that engaging youth in planning raises the self-esteem of youth, fosters their sense of environmental and community responsibility, and encourages them to become more civically minded. Youth engagement also leads to better planned communities, capable of responding to the needs of their young population. Because youth have the largest stake in the future of their community (given that they will be around the longest) their input often strengthens the sustainability of community planning. Furthermore, their enthusiasm, creativity, and idealism bring a fresh perspective to planning initiatives.