Young people are part of our societies and are impacted by decisions, but often left out of conversations or forgotten.
When we want to involve youth in decision-making, we as adults usually default to a “Youth Council” model. But this isn’t always the best option! Councils can be a really great way to engage youth in our work. However, when we use them as the default, in spaces where other options might be better, it actually creates more barriers to engaging youth. Then we run the risk of tokenizing participants.
This resource, created by Joana Lincho, Youth Engagement in Systems Lead, presents key questions to explore if a youth council is the right fit — plus some alternatives if it’s not.