Examples

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Examples

Examples of child and youth participation exercises

Many New Zealand councils have involved children and young people in local government planning and decision-making. Maybe these examples will stimulate or inspire you when your council is planning a new participation exercise.

Examples by type:	Examples by age group:
Consultation Forums and conferences Other strategies to promote participation Structures and mechanisms supporting youth participation Community partnerships and project participation	Age 0-12, pre-school, primary and intermediate school Age 11-18, intermediate and secondary school ages Age 13-18, secondary school ages Age 15-18, senior secondary school ages All ages Young people up to age 25

Please send an example from your own experience

Current issues suggestion box

(Consultation, 11 – 18 years)

The Wellington City Youth Council wanted a continuous way to discover what the current issues for children and young people in their area were.

They introduced a council suggestion box in every school. Two youth council members were put in charge of collecting the suggestions that came from the schools each month.

Selecting youth representatives

(Strategies to promote participation, 13 – 18 years)

The Minister for the Environment requested that each Regional Council throughout NZ send three 15-18 year old representatives to a youth forum to be held in Wellington.

The Taranaki Regional Council wants the selection process to be open, inclusive and fair. So they propose to run an essay competition that will be promoted both through secondary schools and publicly through newspapers and local radio stations in order to reach young people who are not at school.

Young people will be invited to write an essay of no more than 500 words describing the key environmental issues in the region and what should be done about them.

The Manager of the Policy and Planning section of the Taranaki Regional Council will be the main judge. Once the winning essays have been announced, Regional Council staff will then offer the writers further information about the issues and current environmental plans. This will help the young people to prepare to represent their region at the Youth Forum in Wellington. The council also intends awarding prizes to the writers of the three runners up.

LTCCP Box City event

(Consultation – LTCCP, and time-limited participation project, 5 – 12 years)

The Auckland City Council wanted to incorporate the views of a range of children in the development of their Long Term Council Community Plan.

They planned a 'Box City' event with a local school.

This involved getting the children to brainstorm the things they wanted in their city. They drew pictures of the things they wanted, and constructed buildings out of cardboard.

A city was mapped out in their school gym, and the children put their buildings and parks on the map to form a 'box city', the way they wanted their city to be.

Staff from the city council attended the event as well as staff from other organisations in the city such as firemen, hospital staff, and community workers.

The ideas and pictures were then collated and published as a model using info graphics.

Community planning debate

(Consultation – community planning, 13 – 18 years)

A City Council invited local secondary schools to debate some key issues. The topics were "That growth is necessary to improve our city", and "Cities of the future will be better places to live".

Young people from a number of the local schools and council staff were the audience.

The debate raised a number of key issues for young people that the council considered in the development of their community plans.

Redesigning a walk way

(Consultation – local area planning, and time-limited project participation, 5 –12 years)

A District Council wanted to redesign a walkway in the centre of a town. The walkway had become run down and unsafe.

A team from the council visited a school nearby and talked with children in their classroom about their likes and dislikes in relation to the street.

In their school gym, they measured out a model of the street and worked with the children to design a walkway that was safe, interesting and fun to use. They talked about road surfaces, trees and bushes, and the layout of barriers and other features to come up with an attractive and practical solution.

Children and young people with disabilities input to town planning

Strategies to promote participation, and consultation – local area planning, 11 – 18 years)

Waitakere City Council wanted to hear the views of a group of special needs children and young people on the sorts of things they wanted for their town.

The council approached a local special needs school.

They planned a short programme for visiting the school, getting to know the children, and then asking them about what they liked and disliked about living in the town.

The council found that it was extremely important to allow enough time to get to know the group properly before asking them for the information they wanted.

Accessing the views of school age commuters

(Consultation – local area planning, 13 – 18 years)

Wellington City Council wanted to hear the views of young people in an area where there were no high schools. The young people travelled by train to school.

The council employed a group of young interviewers to talk to the young people on the trains as they travelled in to school about the area in which they lived. This was used as an initial 'get to know you' approach.

Then the interviewers set up displays at the train stations and had young people comment on proposed changes to the town centre.

150 young people made comments by writing on 'post its' and putting them on the plans.

Submissions to draft city plan

(Strategies to promote participation, and consultation - planning, 13 – 18 years)

North Shore City Council identified that most of the feedback they had received on the draft city plan was from older residents.

They approached geography teachers in local secondary schools, and asked them to gather feedback from students.

To simplify the teachers' task, they gave the teachers an information pack including:

the draft city plan
some simple questions for students to think about
copies of the consultation newsletter
a flyer advertising the information available on the council web-site
a poster advertising the web-site.

Child and Family Policy consultation

(Consultation – Policy development, and time-limited project participation, 5 – 18 years)

Hamilton City Council consulted approximately 400 children to inform the development of their Child and Family Policy. They gathered information on the needs, issues and views of children living in Hamilton.

They established an advisory group made up of six intermediate aged children. These children helped to develop the information gathering tools to be used:

children aged 7 – 11 years took part in classroom discussions

children aged 12 – 16 took part in a self-completed survey

parents of all children took part in a survey

25 tamariki and whanau took part in whanau interviews.

Parental permission was sought prior to the consultation. Information gathered formed the basis of the policy vision, goals and objectives. The policy that has been developed will be mainly used by HCC but other service providers may adopt vision statements.

Café cards linked to website

(Strategies to promote participation, and consultation - LTCCP, 13 – 25 years)

North Shore City Council used café cards as a way to reach young people who might not have time to write a more detailed form of feedback on their city's 20-year plan, attend a local workshop or read a newsletter.

Café cards were left in cafes, libraries, local shops and other locations which young people frequented.

The café cards had four designs – the built and natural environment, housing choice, city life and recreation. Each card had a series of questions, including some that asked people to rank issues in order of importance, specific to the topic.

A media release was sent to all local and some regional newspapers, radio stations and other media to promote the cards.

The council also used a web-based version of the café cards. Interactive versions of the café card were posted on the council web-site. Each card had an on-line form, with similar graphic layout and questions as the original printed version. The completed forms were sent through to the project e-mail.

The web format meant that the cards could be more interactive – for example, the housing choice card was developed into an interactive game where the respondent could select a choice of house and drag it over into an empty space in the street.

Youth policy consultation

(Consultation, and structures and mechanisms supporting youth participation, 13 –18 years)

Hutt City Council used focus groups and surveys to consult with young people to inform the development of their Youth Policy. Hutt City Council hired a youth oriented facilitator who had an advisory team of young people assisting her. Young people were involved through out the process - from the initial stages of planning and development of the process through to the implementation of the process and the outcomes. The promotion and communication of the policy is a continuing process.

LTCCP consultation with migrant young people

(Strategies to promote participation, and consultation - LTCCP, 11 – 18 years)

The Wellington City Council wanted to talk to children and young people from different ethnic groups to gain their perspective for their Long Term Council Community Plan.

In order to identify which groups they should approach, they spoke to their community advisors and the Citizens Advice Bureau staff. They also talked to local schools, Police Youth Aid, community nurses and some youth social workers.

They then ran focus groups with some young people from immigrant groups to consult them on the Long Term Council Community Plan.

They learned some valuable lessons. For example, it would have been better to have boys and girls in separate focus groups. They believe that having mixed groups limited the discussion of certain topics.

Manukau City Youth Forum

(Strategies to promote participation, consultation, and ongoing participation project, 13 – 18 years)

A two-day forum run by Manukau City Council was held in the Council Chambers and involved about 20 young people. The Council provided taxis for participants as well as good food and music and a note taker to record proceedings.

The first day was spent getting to know each other with the aid of 'ice breakers' and games.

On the second day, participants talked in small groups about issues of concern to them. Participants used graffiti sheets to record their deliberations and one person reported back to the larger group.

At first, youth group leaders dominated each group. Facilitators resolved this by taking them out of groups and putting them together in one group.

The young people discussed issues relating to education, employment, recreation and support for young people in need. The young people reported the findings back to the City Council as a whole.

Since that forum, the City Council has sought the help of the group in deciding how to allocate funding for youth. The group has met as a youth council to discuss options and applications.

Key success factors:

the support provided by Council
the quality of the facilitators and
the support provided by adults as the young people presented their findings.

Te Roopu Puawai o Waitakere – Maori youth forum

(Strategies to promote participation, consultation, and long term participation project, all age groups)

Te Roopu Puawai is a Maori youth forum created to support its representative on Te Taumata Runanga, a Standing Committee of Waitakere City Council.

The forum provides an opportunity for Maori youth from across Waitakere City and from within a range of community sectors to come together and korero about their concerns.

Te Roopu was set up in 1996 and supported actively by local iwi, Ngati Whatua and Te Kawerau A Maki and the wider Maori community of Waitakere City. They are focused on creating opportunities for Maori rangatahi to consider issues affecting their lives and how the City can address these issues.

The forum is made up of rangatahi who live, attend school and work in Waitakere City and Tamaki Makaurau. They are linked to a range of groups in their community. The young people are from diverse backgrounds from mainstream schooling, Whare kura Maori total immersion learning, Kelston Deaf Centre, through to training at Polytech and other tertiary education institutions. Membership is open to all age groups.

The forum is advocating for the development of a Whare Wananga, a Maori equivalent to a mainstream university. Te Roopu Puawai made a submission to Waitakere City Council's Annual Plan process, supporting the Council's commitment to this initiative.

Christchurch Mental Health Forum

(Strategies to promote participation, and community partnerships, 13 – 18 years)

Christchurch City Council in partnership with several other organisations in the city held a Youth Day Forum which was part of the fourth Annual Mental Health forum themed 'Making a Difference'. The day was designed to enable young people aged 13 – 18 to discuss mental health issues relating to them and what they believe makes a difference.

Christchurch City Council provided funding specifically to ensure a high level of youth participation. Other organisations also provided funding (for the wider forum) and even more importantly provided time and expertise.

The organising group for the forum was made up of 14 people from 10 different organisations working with young people. Approximately 150 young people from 32 different schools and organisations attended the day.

The day consisted of a keynote presentation by two youth workers offering an introduction to the concept of mental health. Following this, the young people chose three workshops to attend from 12 options. These were:

Depression
Women's issues and prostitution
Body image
Dealing with parents
Pacific mental health
Christchurch Youth Council and Resources
Alcohol and drugs
Men's issues
Sexuality
Law and order
Learning styles

Each workshop was run differently. Most had time for the presenter to share information with the young people as well as time for the young people to discuss issues around the topic that were important to them.

In each workshop a scribe took notes of what was covered. These notes, along with evaluation forms filled out by the young people provided the basis for a report documenting the day.

Rotorua Youth Input Forum 03

(Strategies to promote participation, long term participation project, and community partnerships, 13 – 18 years)

Council focus
Background
Preparing for the forum
What happened on the day
Results from one of the workshops
Tips from an organiser

Council focus

This was a joint initiative by Rotorua District Council (RDC) and Toi Te Ora (TTO) Public Health (Bay of Plenty District Health Board). It comes under RDC Youth Policy area #1 Voices.

The project aimed to widen youth development and participation within the community through establishing relationships with wider networks of young people (rather than just using the Youth Council). The principle: "Young people involved with the community and the community involved with young people."

Background

The pproject started from a community need – to develop networks with young people. The Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa 2002 describes youth development through participation. In this project the context is community relationships and connections.

The project partners were: RDC and TTO with additional funding from Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust (RECT). The participant organisations included RECT, Rotovegas Youth Health (Rotorua General Practitioners Group), Rotorua Community Youth Centre, Rotorua Arts Village Experience, SPORT Bay of Plenty, Te Papa Takaro O Te Arawa, H.Y.P.E unlimited Trust (youth worker network/youth festival group).

The project partners decided to develop a one-day forum to kick start the relationship between young people and the community organizations.

Sixty 13-18 year old young people from Girls High, Boys High, Lakes High, Reporoa College, John Paul College and Western Heights High School were involved in the forum. The young people included a mix of age, gender and ethnic groups proportionate to the demographic profile of the youth population in the District.

Preparing for the forum

Council did the pre-forum work with the community organisations and schools.

It was important to be clear with organisations about the distinction between consultation and information provision on the day, and thinking about post-forum projects and opportunities. We wanted the forum to be about both.

We also wanted all organisations to be clear and consistent about youth development and participation.

We drafted a Memorandum of Understanding about youth development based on the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa. We asked all organisations to sign the Memorandum and a form that listed the key questions or issues, and their ideas for post-forum work.

Pre-forum meetings were used to brainstorm ideas/issues for running workshops.

A video was pre-recorded of the different organisations' "bare facts" – what they do and why they want to involve young people.

The council set up the venue the day before. Schools were responsible for getting young people to the venue.

What happened on the day

The forum was held at the Ohinemutu Marae complex. It was facilitated by members of the youth council and RDC trained staff, and had two youth council MCs.

The "bare facts" video was played at the beginning of the forum (after icebreakers, ground rules etc).

Young people were split up into small groups and participated in a series of 30 minute workshops run by the participating organisations. Each group stayed together for the day and experienced every workshop.

Young people could then decide if they wanted to be involved in post forum projects and left their contact details if they did.

At lunch and break times fun, good FOOD and entertainment was essential!! E.g. lip synch competition, jokes, with adults participating as well. Young people completed evaluation forms and the participating organisations presented summaries at the end of the forum.

Organisations were provided with facilitators (a mix of youth council young people and RDC trained facilitators) to help run their groups – recording, timekeeping etc.

Results from one of the workshops

These comments are from the Clinical Team Leader, Youth Health for Rotorua GPs, about their part in the forum.

"I am a GP and have a position as Clinical Team Leader Youth Health for Rotorua GPs. I am the clinical leader of our high school clinics project, and our downtown youth health centre, "Rotovegas Youth Health." With my foot in all these camps, I used the Input Forum to get feedback from the young people on:

what works or doesn't work for them with General Practice
what works or doesn't work for them with the high school clinics
their wish list for the Rotovegas Youth Health centre.

"Groups of 10 – 12 young people rotated around each station all day. We had brainstorm pages for each group. We facilitated a structured discussion:

first using a page about GPs with a plus and minus column
then using a page about school clinics with a plus and minus column
then just listing what could or should happen at Rotovegas Youth Health.

"The information was used as feedback to GPs, to providers at the school clinics, and in planning services and funding at Rotovegas Youth Health.

"Also the young people were asked to volunteer and put their names down if they were interested in continued involvement. Options included :

as a part of our youth input team for Rotovegas Youth Health
as part of a drama group to go around the schools in term three promoting health themes and use of school wellness centres, and promoting Rotovegas Youth Health.

"The youth input team for the Rotovegas Youth Health have been hugely useful, and have helped us on the interview panel selecting staff for the health centre, as well as for the youth centre."

Workshop exercises – tips from one of the organisers

"It was up to each organisation to run their workshop. We helped with ideas and arrangements…the rest was up to them.

"Some great ideas came from youth worker web-sites, books and manuals about icebreakers, group learning etc. Visual and interactive stuff works really well.

"One group did a Samoan slap dance as an icebreaker in their workshop, so at the end of the day the whole forum knew it and could do it together."

Bay of Plenty Regional Council's EnviroAction Conference

(Strategies to promote participation, and consultation, 15 – 17 years)

Aim: to ensure that young people were able to attend the regional environmental conference EnviroAction in June 2002 to represent this section of the broader community.

The conference was set up to enable an opportunity for two-way communication between the council and interested people in the community. To gain input from young people, a representative group of 15 senior students from local secondary schools was formed and attended the conference.

The conference provided an opportunity for increasing the community's understanding of environmental issues in the area and increasing the council's understanding of the community's (including young people's) views/knowledge on various issues.

Youth website

(Strategy to promote participation, and long term project participation, 13 – 18 years)

The North Shore City Youth Council decided it wanted to explain their processes and the issues they were dealing with to the young people in their area. With the support of the council, they established a web page, which linked to the main council web-site. A member of the youth council updated the web page each month.

The web page included:

contact details of the youth council members
information about the youth council, including meeting dates and planned activities for the upcoming months
a 'what's new' column
links to other youth sites, including other youth council web pages
'post a comment' on an issue that the council was consulting on.

Tips for making a youth web-site:

be clear about the purpose of the project
plan well in advance: it takes time to get a web-site off the ground
consider maintenance of the web-site – there will be annual costs
beware of funky graphics: if they are slow to load, many young people won't be able to access them.

Finally, talk to other councils who have done web-site projects, and get acquainted with their websites, e.g.:
Upper Hutt Youth Web-site
(www.uhyouth.com)

Hutt City Council Youth Infusion Project
(www.huttcity.govt.nz/council/services/community/youthinfusion.html

Wellington City Council Web-site Project
(www.wcc.govt.nz)

Nelson City Council youth council pages on-line
(www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/thecouncil/youth_council.htm)

Auckland City Council youth council pages on-line
(http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/members/youthcouncil)

North Shore City Youth Council
(www.shoreyouth.co.nz)

Involving primary school children in planning

(Consultation, and time-limited project participation, 5 – 10 years)

The Waitakere City Council consults with primary school age children about issues of interest to them. These are mainly tangible issues such as the redesign of local areas.

The council also receives feedback from the children through forums, surveys, involving them in the creation of art work in the city and to a lesser extent through city wide events.

In one example, the council wanted to redesign a city walkway, which was run down and unsafe.

A team visited a local school, and talked with children in their classroom about their likes and dislikes in relation to the street. They then measured the lane out on the playground and worked with the children to design a walkway that was safe, interesting and fun to use. They talked about road surfaces, art works, the layout of barriers and other features to come up with an attractive and practical solution.

Key factors in success:

the use of an appropriate and innovative methodology
the Council's willingness to take the children's views seriously.

Civics education in colleges

(Strategies to promote participation, and community partnerships, 13 – 18 years)

The Wellington City Council worked with teachers from the Correspondence School, two local colleges and Learning Media Ltd.

They developed a student information book called 'Have Your Say in Local Government' to support level five of Social Studies in the NZ curriculum.

This is a teaching resource used by the colleges, which promotes civics education and contributes to building young people's capacity to participate in council decision-making.

The initiative came from a city councillor and the resource was developed from within the Democratic Services division of council.

The resource includes practical exercises designed to make the information come alive for students. Examples include:

running an election process in the classroom using the council model
writing submissions
figuring out ways to get involved in council processes.

Key factors in success:

learning from what other councils had done
using education experts
a team effort involving council, teachers, Learning Media and young people
attractive presentation and appropriate graphics
piloting the resource with two colleges and getting feedback

Student feedback was generally positive. They found the book very user friendly. The graphic presentation made it more accessible to them.

Tips for creating a civics education resource

You need a champion to drive it.

You need a group within council to take responsibility. Otherwise, when someone leaves, no one takes over.

Partner with key stakeholders, particularly young people.

Pay for professional presentation: otherwise the resource won't be used.

Plan a 12-month review to see what's working.

Design the resource to be easily updated (e.g. with replacement pages). A system is required for regular updates.
Have Your Say in Local Government
(www.wcc.govt.nz/community/youth.html)

Youth Services Division, WCC
mailto:info@wcc.govt.nz
+64-4-499 4444
PO Box 2199
Wellington

District Council engages with secondary school students

(Strategies to promote participation, and consultation, 13 – 18 years)

The Marlborough District Council meets monthly with representatives from each of the secondary schools in the area.

They discuss projects and issues that council is dealing with, and any other issues the young people are interested in. The young people are encouraged to investigate issues and report back.

The group meets on a school day at lunchtime as they have found that this gets maximum attendance. Attendance is usually between 9 and 12 with an equal mix of males and females ranging from year 9 to 13.

The schools support the regular meetings, and are kept informed of what is discussed.

Local swimming pool advisory group

(Long term project participation, 12 -14 years)

The Upper Hutt City Council Swimming Pool (H20 Xtream) wanted input from children and young people on the way they ran their local swimming pool.

They set up an advisory group (Teen Board) of children and young people (12 – 14 year olds) from a range of schools in the area. All new ideas for programmes or changes to the pool are presented to the Teen Board.

The Board is also encouraged to come up with their own ideas for activities and programmes.

The Board members have become advocates of programmes being run at the pool to their peers. Programmes and events to date have not failed.

Youth Council links to Council

(Structures and mechanisms supporting youth participation, 11 – 18 years)

The Porirua City Youth Council has 20 members aged between 13 and 15 years of age. They felt that the way they linked back to the council was disjointed and they wanted a better understanding of the way the larger council worked.

Three representatives did a PowerPoint presentation to a group of city council middle and senior managers. They suggested a programme of council staff attending youth council meetings over successive months to explain the various roles of council staff.

This resulted in the youth council establishing valuable links to council staff and a better general understanding of their council.

Nelson Youth Council

(Structures and mechanisms supporting youth participation)

History of the Nelson Youth Council
The Nelson Youth Council today
Achievements
Council staff support the Youth Council's autonomy

History of the Nelson Youth Council

Nelson City Council first began discussion of a youth council or forum for young people in 1992. Four years later, a youth forum was established to give young people a voice. Following the forum, Nelson Youth Council was established in 1998.

Together, young people and the City Council developed a Constitution that states the aims and objectives of the Nelson Youth Council:

to give Nelson youth a real voice, so that young people can be heard and taken more seriously on issues affecting youth
to promote the Nelson Youth Council and the activities it undertakes, and to inform the Nelson City Council, Nelson youth and the general public of issues being dealt with
to bring the needs and concerns of young people to the attention of local and central government and to encourage consideration of such issues at a local, regional and national level
to assist the Nelson City Council's planning processes, in relation to the provision of services and facilities with potential impact on young people
to identify local youth needs and resources
to provide experience of representation processes and local government to youth (Nelson Youth Council, 2003).

The Nelson Youth Council today

Since 1998 membership of the Youth Council has grown to 18 members, with a number of associate members.

Membership is drawn from local secondary schools, tertiary institutions, and youth organisations. Representation is at the discretion of each group. However, the Youth Council encourages and supports democratic election of representatives.

In some local schools Youth Council positions are elected along with School Council positions. The Youth Council membership also includes one Nelson City Councillor who acts as an advocate for the Youth Council.

City Council staff provide community development, administrative and democratic services support to the Youth Council. These staff are not considered Youth Council members and do not have voting rights.

Achievements of the Nelson Youth Council

Each year Nelson Youth Council's agenda has grown in size and importance as they gain support from the community and from the City Council.

The Youth Council has been involved in organising youth events, distributing youth information packs, attending and presenting at youth development conferences, and supporting local youth organisations in many different ways.

Two major achievements to date are the highly successful Youth Event Support - Underwriting Fund, which won a Commonwealth Youth Award in 2001, and the development of a youth park currently under construction.

Council staff support the Youth Council's autonomy

To avoid the dangers of tokenism and manipulation, City Council has given the Youth Council a clear status and formal recognition.

The Youth Council sits underneath Nelson City Council's Community Facilities and Services Committee, with the Deputy Chair of that Committee sitting on Youth Council.

Youth Council meetings are formal Council meetings, and follow Council's democratic processes as a working group of the Council.

This autonomy would be difficult to maintain without the support of key adult staff and Councillors. The two full-time staff of the Business and Community Development Unit are strong advocates for youth participation and the Youth Council.

A youth-friendly City Councillor has also helped the Youth Council to feel valued and supported, and to become a valued part of Nelson City Council.

"They're prepared to stand up for everything the young people do and say, and try to find ways those young people can get their voices heard even more." (Youth Councillor)

Waitakere City Secondary Schools Youth Council

(Structures and mechanisms supporting youth participation, 15 – 18 years)

The Waitakere Secondary Schools Youth Council was set up in 1993 and has 20 members, drawn from the 10 secondary schools in the area. The Council generally meets once a month throughout the school year.

Youth councillors are appointed and trained

Youth councillors are appointed for a two-year term and are usually senior students. They are not necessarily representative of the community as a whole. However, they can represent the views of Waitakere secondary school students through their own consultation with student councils, assemblies and informal networks.

Members receive skills training so they can better represent their fellow students and participate in council business. They can use the same skills in their own communities, schools and employment. Leadership training is seen as an investment in Waitakere City's community and business development.

At the Leadership Camp, the main training event of each year, the Youth Council writes an Annual Plan to ensure their work is targeted and focused.

Tasks of the youth council

City Council Committees and Officers refer issues for consideration and comment and the Youth Council can also refer issues from the community onto Council Committees and Officers.

The Youth Council also produces an annual plan and contributes to the Waitakere City Wellbeing Strategy. In the 2000-01 Strategy, the Youth Council's strategy focused on youth facilities and activities, youth alcohol issues, public transport, employment and tertiary education in Waitakere City.

The Youth Council also met periodically with The Minister of Youth Affairs to share their vision for social, economic and environmental development in the City.

Alternative Education for Young Parents

(Community partnerships, and project participation, 13 – 25 years)

During 1998-9, collaborating with other agencies, Rotorua District Council (RDC) undertook Te Puna Rangatahi, a comprehensive research and consultation project with Rotorua young people. This was undertaken with a view to developing youth policy and programmes from an informed perspective.

High local levels of teenage pregnancy, and of young parenting were identified by the demographic analysis.

When designing the consultation process, RDC ensured that young parents and young parents-to-be were able to participate in focus groups and surveys. The young parents' focus group identified real issues with continuing their education at mainstream schools through their pregnancy and especially once their children were born.

A combined Council and community meeting was then hosted by RDC to hear about 'He Huarahi Tamariki', a school for teenage parents in Porirua. The support for such an initiative in Rotorua was overwhelming.

A Steering Group was established, facilitated by RDC, which developed two aims.

To open a conveniently located school for young people whose education had been interrupted by parenting, and for whom mainstream options were not suitable - a school which supports them in their parenting role
To open a pre-school education centre fully integrated with the school so that the children can begin their early childhood education.

By-laws and street-racing

(Structure and mechanism supporting youth participation, and consultation), 13 – 25 years)

A group of young people approached the Porirua Youth Council because they felt they should have been consulted about some by-laws that had been introduced to limit street racing.

The Youth Council arranged for some members to go out and talk to the young people concerned.

They found that the by-laws would mean that the street racers would find somewhere else to congregate in the central city because there was no alternative venue for them.

The youth councillors asked the council to consider developing an alternative venue for the street racers.

Development of Youth Action Policy

(Project initiative, and structures and mechanisms supporting participation, 11-25 years)

The Auckland City Council wanted to develop a youth policy that was created 'by young people, for young people.'

The participation of children and young people was integral to the development of the Youth Action policy and drove the strategy, framework and methods used.

The council agreed that all aspects of the policy would be developed by young people, with 'behind the scenes' guidance from experienced council staff. Three young people were employed as project managers and were allocated the task of developing the policy through all its stages.

They used these methods of getting other children and young people involved in developing the policy:

discussion groups with school students at 12 schools
seminars with university students
liaison with Youth Council
consulting with focus groups (determined by ethnicity, employment status)
holding a youth forum 'Your Voice, Your City'
hiring young people to design and produce the policy documents, and
organising the launch of the policy.

By participating in the policy development, young people made meaningful decisions about something that affected them. They had control over the process, and so they felt a sense of ownership over a policy that would help improve their lives.

Youth Participation in Action

(Project initiatives, and structures and mechanisms supporting participation)

Pioneers Park

Pioneers Park is one example of youth participation in action at Nelson City Council. The project was youth initiated and young people were involved in planning and implementation. Adults (council staff) provided technical input and supported the project, and adults and young people shared decision-making.

In 2001 a Youth Council survey found young people wanted more youth facilities, and also found that the general population supported an increase in facilities for young people. The Youth Council suggested a youth park and other young people endorsed the idea.

A steering group comprising youth councillors and relevant council staff was established, and has met regularly throughout the process.

From the beginning, much of the work has been done by youth councillors supported by council staff. Youth Council carried out consultation, first with young people, then with the wider community:

identifying and surveying key stakeholders
facilitating workshops to discuss the project
addressing any concerns in conjunction with council staff.

From this consultation a concept plan was drafted and presented again to the community.

The concept plan incorporated a skating area, half basketball court, volleyball court, clustered seating for socialising, events area, and addressed safety issues such as lighting. The plan was approved by young people, other stakeholders, and council's Parks and Recreation Committee. As a result, Pioneers Park youth park is now under construction.

A council staff member comments, "The Youth Council did an amazing job of consulting on the concept plan. After they were done, we asked anyone with any concerns to attend a meeting about the park, and only two people turned up. The Youth Council had consulted so well that everyone's issues had been resolved. A lot of work went into this and they did an amazing job."

Redevelopment Plan for Caroline Bay

(Strategies to promote participation, and consultation, 13-17 years)

The Timaru District Council wanted to gain young people's feedback on its redevelopment plan for Caroline Bay. (Caroline Bay is a large beach reserve in the centre of Timaru).

The Youth Council was involved in the preliminary stages of redevelopment. They were then allocated the task of consulting their peers at local high schools. After conducting this consultation, they then met as a council and formulated a submission based on their findings.

Both the council and the redevelopment consultants accepted the youth council's submission. Changes were subsequently made to accommodate the views submitted by the youth council on behalf of Timaru's young people.

Future Path Canterbury project

(Strategies to promote participation, and project participation initiative, 11 – 13 years)

This was a joint project between Ashburton, Banks Peninsular, Hurunui, Selwyn and the Waimakariri District Councils.

The first phase of the project is to develop a long-range vision for central Canterbury, with a specific commitment to involving the leaders of tomorrow in this process.

Two intermediate school-aged children were members of the stakeholders team. (The project tried diligently to get university students to participate with no success.)

The children were involved in the project from the very beginning and actively participated on an equal level with the adult members. As part of the stakeholders' team, they attended a series of seminars with well-known national and international experts, and have worked through a variety of exercises in developing a framework for a 50-year vision.

The information obtained from the students is part of the total package of stakeholder information and is not differentiated at all.

The project developed an education strategy and programmes designed to get children at all levels of education (primary, intermediate and secondary) to think about the future they desire for their community. This programme was piloted and is available to schools across central Canterbury.

Leisure plan workshop

(Consultation, 11 – 17 years)

The Manawatu District Council wanted to get feedback from young people regarding the development of the council's proposed Leisure Plan.

The council held a workshop with 15-20 representatives from district schools (intermediate and above). This was one of a series of meetings with groups associated with leisure.

A consultant who was experienced in working with young people facilitated the workshop. The facilitator introduced the project and then got participants to brainstorm on a set of key questions. The young people wrote down their thoughts on large pieces of paper and then reported back.

The information gathered from the workshop was used to develop objectives in the leisure plan being prepared by council.

Promoting access to services

(Council strategies to promote participation, and community partnerships, 0 – 4 years)

The Wellington City Library and Plunket formed a partnership.

The library provides a free book in a pack that is provided to every newborn baby on the first home visit by the Plunket nurse. The book contains information to new parents on books for kids and parents along with activities and function of the library.

The pack also contains registration information to join the library.

This way the library has a high rate of very young children who are registered and engaged in the library.

Last updated: August 2008

Examples

Examples of child and youth participation exercises

Consultation

Forums and conferences

Other strategies to promote participation

Structures and mechanisms supporting youth participation

Community partnerships and project participation

Age 0-12, pre-school, primary and intermediate school

Age 11-18, intermediate and secondary school ages

Age 13-18, secondary school ages

Age 15-18, senior secondary school ages

All ages

Young people up to age 25

Current issues suggestion box

Selecting youth representatives

LTCCP Box City event

Community planning debate

Redesigning a walk way

Children and young people with disabilities input to town planning

Accessing the views of school age commuters

Submissions to draft city plan

Child and Family Policy consultation

Café cards linked to website

Youth policy consultation

LTCCP consultation with migrant young people

Manukau City Youth Forum

Key success factors:

Te Roopu Puawai o Waitakere – Maori youth forum

Christchurch Mental Health Forum

Rotorua Youth Input Forum 03

Council focus

Background

Preparing for the forum

What happened on the day

Results from one of the workshops

Workshop exercises – tips from one of the organisers

Bay of Plenty Regional Council's EnviroAction Conference

Youth website

Involving primary school children in planning

Key factors in success:

Civics education in colleges

Key factors in success:

District Council engages with secondary school students

Local swimming pool advisory group

Youth Council links to Council

Nelson Youth Council

History of the Nelson Youth Council

The Nelson Youth Council today

Achievements of the Nelson Youth Council

Council staff support the Youth Council's autonomy

Waitakere City Secondary Schools Youth Council

Youth councillors are appointed and trained

Tasks of the youth council

Alternative Education for Young Parents

By-laws and street-racing

Development of Youth Action Policy

Youth Participation in Action

Pioneers Park

Redevelopment Plan for Caroline Bay

Future Path Canterbury project

Leisure plan workshop

Promoting access to services