When we’re planning for youth engagement, it’s important to have a vision, dream big and hope for the absolute best. It’s vital to hold out for the most positive, powerful outcomes no matter what the odds, and to stick our necks out. However, to do that best we should put youth engagement plans on paper or type them up and share them with the people involved.

The locations for youth engagement vary according to the community or organization doing the mapping. They can include formal and informal spaces; adult-approved and youth-driven places; and other sorts of possibilities for people to gather, belong, dream and take action. In the research and practice of the Freechild Institute since 2001, we’ve found there are many variables in mapping youth engagement.

Factors for Mapping Youth Engagement

Youth engagement mapping can include the following places.

1. Youth in city hall
2. Youth on school boards
3. Youth engagement at home
4. Youth owned businesses
5. Youth engagement in the outdoors
6. Youth led nonprofits
7. Youth infused community planning
8. Youth centric public transportation
9. Schools focused on engagement instead of achievement
10. Obvious youth made art, writing, theater, music and other creations
11. Training and educational opportunities for everyone focused on youth engagement knowledge, skills, ideas and actions
12. Community-wide investment in youth engagement
13. Youth action research
14. Youth led training and technical assistance on youth engagement
15. Youth led spaces, activities, programs and organizations
16. New technology supporting youth engagement
17. Places where youth and adults interact as equals
18. Training for adults on all aspects of youth engagement
19. Educational opportunities to learn how to change the world
20. Safe places for youth to be, do, create, dream
21. Clear rules, laws, policies and procedures to build youth engagement
22. Sustained funding to build, support and grow youth engagement
23. “Edge spaces” for youth engagement that make some adults uncomfortable
24. Transitional activities to support young adults becoming independent
25. Specific activities to engage young people together for racial, cultural, social, educational, economic and other kinds of harmony and peace
26. Places to engage LGBTTQQ youth
27. Places to engage youth in racial, cultural and ethnic identities
28. People who think beyond youth engagement and towards solidarity
29. Opportunities to engage kids before they become youth
30. Youth voting rights

Supports for Youth Engagement

There are dozens of supports for youth engagement. They can include:

• A single, unified, wholistic strategy for the entire city
• Personnel dedicated to youth engagement
• Practices building youth engagement
• Policies supporting youth engagement
• Procedures that sustain youth engagement

Discover more parts of systems for youth engagement »

Youth Engagement Mapping Process

Our youth engagement mapping process can help communities and organizations expand their activities with intention and purpose while deepening the impact they have on young people and their communities.

Here’s a process Freechild uses with youth and adults to map youth engagement.

1. Define a goal. Name what exactly you’d like to do; don’t just say, “Engage youth.” Instead, name who, what, when, where, why and how you’re going to engage youth.
2. Identify allies. Find younger and older people who will support you while you’re engaging youth.
3. Identify likely challenges. There are a lot of forces working against youth engagement; name them.
4. Uncover layers of power. Power affects youth engagement a lot. Name the ways, show their faces and write them down.
5. Develop a strategy. There’s no magic wand and it doesn’t often just happen. How exactly are you going to engage youth?
6. Create a message. Young people are saturated by media of all kinds. Appealing to them requires a real message that’s authentically delivered to them. What’s your message?
7. Get out there. How are you taking action for youth engagement? What are the places, people, preparations and outcomes you’re looking for? Get to work!
8. Create a calendar. Show people how, where and when youth engagement is going to happen by creating a visual calendar and sharing it.
9. Estimate needed resources. Youth engagement takes resources – what are yours?
10. Monitor and evaluate. Keep your eyes open, your heart beating, your feet on the ground and your hands in the mud through monitoring and evaluation.

Once you’ve started a youth engagement map, consider what’s missing, find other people to contribute, and keep building!

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