“Participation [in public consultations] is a fundamental part of citizenship. It is the process by which children and young people can influence decision-making which affects their lives to bring about positive change” - Participation Works - an organisation that designs and develops innovative projects to meet the needs of our young people and the communities they live, study and work.
Engaging Young People in Consultations (EYPiC)
This website displays the outputs from a research project done on behalf of the Future Transport Visions Group > FTVG and funded through the Rees Jefferys Road Fund.
Through the various pages you will find a:
- A toolkit with recommendations and personas for use to maximise the engagement of 18-25 year olds in public consultations.
- Information about the research done to produce these tools.
- Information about the authors.
- And a contact page if you wish to reach out about any elements of the research or toolkit.
Background
There are certain groups that are often underrepresented when it comes to public consultations. Such groups include older people; people from different ethnic backgrounds; people with disabilities; people on low incomes; Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender people; migrant workers and travellers; people experiencing homelessness and young people. For the purposes of this project we have focused our energy on the last of these underrepresented groups.
Young people between the ages of 18 and 25.
“We struggle to reach youth in the consultations we have done for Active Transport Networks. We are just learning about the youth services and how we could potentially make use of them for engagement.” - Bradford City Council Planning Team
It is so important to engage young people in public consultations about policy making or area planning because all young people should have the right to participate in matters affecting their lives both now and in the future.
Involving young people in public consultations is one of the ways that this right to participation can be realised.
On the flip side there are also numerous benefits of including young people in the public consultation process. Their inclusion can improve service delivery, lead to the development of more appropriate provisions, improve community cohesion, develop the skills and political literacy of young people, improve personal and social confidence in young people and can also help to overcome feelings of discrimination. Research indicates that young people are more likely to feel discriminated against and are viewed more negatively than older people.
