Engaging Youth
The Foundation’s Youthscape program encompasses five communities’ efforts to fund local youth-led projects and to influence local youth policy and practice. In addition to generating useful knowledge for organizations trying to involve more young people, this initiative is also developing engagement models for adoption by other communities across Canada.
Strategic Vision
The Foundation envisions a society enriched by its commitment to the engagement of young people as active citizens, where they are recognized for their unique knowledge, perspective, skills and values and participate in local decision-making.
Granting Total
2006 – 2010: $2,123,500
Program History
Selecting 5 communities from 24 applications in 2006 to participate in YouthScape, the Foundation’s youth engagement strategy aims to foster innovation at both the local and national levels. This program tests models for engaging marginalized young people in local communities in line with some of the most promising practices in the field.
Under the leadership of the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD), local convening agencies have, in turn, supported dozens of local youth-led projects over the past three years. They have created support networks around the projects that include local social service agencies, schools, businesses, police, artists and parents. By mentoring young people, these adults and institutions learn to create space for youth perspectives and encourage their participation.
The YouthScape communities gather annually with youth-led organizations to share lessons and to create opportunities for collaboration on specific initiatives.
In late 2010, IICRD will be summarizing many of Youthscape’s lessons in a handbook designed to inspire and inform organizations seeking to engage local youth.
Key Lessons
- While a competitive “Request for Proposals” may generate the most coherent proposals, some organizations doing the most innovative work with youth may remain below the radar screen or be less experienced at writing proposals.
- A well-run small grants fund can successfully nourish the dreams and talents of young people to initiate a project. In order to change municipal and organizational policies, adult mentors can be useful allies to help them navigate the dynamics of complex systems.
- Civic institutions and traditional youth-serving agencies may have a successful track record in attracting previously engaged young people (students, athletes, etc.). However, it is much more challenging to be accessible and relevant to young people who do not see themselves as “belonging” to a broader community. Organizations that are serious about including marginalized youth often need to start by reviewing their own values, structures and behaviour in light of where these youth are at.
- We are learning about the approach that outstanding “youth-friendly” organizations embrace to promote authentic civic participation by young people: youth engagement is not a discrete project, but rather, a way of living. It begins by listening to the young people and affirms their rights and skills rather than focusing exclusively on their needs.
- There is no coherent “youth engagement” field; leadership, networks and funding opportunities tend to be organized around specific issues such as education, recreation, health, job skills training, crime prevention, etc. People are most easily engaged by working on a specific issue in their community such as building a skate board park, initiating an after-school music program or improving relations between street-involved youth and the police.
- Developmental evaluation was extremely useful in this initiative, particularly in the early stages when the design was still evolving and the communication channels in this multi-site project were emerging. A report on the developmental evaluation process will be posted in early 2010.
Visit YouthScape.com for more information
Resources
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Youth ‘Creating, Giving, Doing’: A Research Report on Youth-led Granting in Nova Scotia
- Empowering practices for working with marginalized youth, published in the Journal of Relational Child & Youth Care Practice
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Creating Change Youth Style: A Youth Action Strategy Exploration Report for the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation
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Reflecting on the Youthscape Initiative: Learnings and Recommendations from Calgary
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Developmental Evaluation Report: A trek through the YouthScape landscape
- YouthScape Guidebook – Changing the Landscape: Involving Youth in Social Change
More information on the YouthScape Guidebook can be found on the YouthScape website.