How does this impact on Community Wellbeing? The voice of young people is not heard in community forums (like community councils) and when it comes to priorities for local development and plans. When their interests are considered, developments focus on 'what is 'good for them' more than what they want. Formal mechanisms and the usual consultation approaches don't reach most young people. Consult with organisations like Young Scot and Youth Scotland to develop a toolkit for Councils and developers to ensure YP are heard. Why should the Committee focus on this as part of their future work? Almost all strategies, plans and developments impact on young people, and they are going to live with the consequences for longer. Yet they have almost no influence on how these plans take shape. Prevalent consultative approaches exclude most young people. The result is a physical, social and cultural environment that often does not work for them. Residential developments are designed for car owning, wage earning adults. New facilities are designed by people whose idea of YP is from the C20th.
the future belongs to the young, and we greyheads should keep that at the forefront of our minds. More resources and a stronger identity for local community councils would offer young people a meaningful role in decision-making in their area
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation