Young adults ages 18 to 39 are invited to participate in the virtual 2020 Cohort of the North Shore Young Citizens’ Forum (aka the Forum), a program that strives to engage young people who live, work or study on the North Shore.
The Forum will provide participants with the opportunity to learn about civic processes, and how to overcome the obstacles to participation.
Participants will also explore some of the pressing issues being faced by local municipalities, as well as address the challenges young people face on the North Shore in the age of COVID-19.
Youth are often thought of as less municipally engaged than older generations. Though they are passionate and active advocates for social issues, young residents tend to vote less, participate less in public consultations and are often underrepresented at municipal council meetings.
To address this disparity, the Forum is aiming to achieve the following goals: educate younger adults about local government and its importance; build capacity and skills for younger citizens to participate more in local civic affairs; and develop projects that will address important local issues and make the North Shore more resilient.
The first Forum cohort ran in 2019 from January to June, and participants developed and presented to municipalities 16 recommendations to address five different thematic participation challenges faced by young people on the North Shore.
These themes include: improving face-to-face engagement; deepening online engagement; increasing young citizen representation on advisory committees; encouraging young-citizen led informal engagement projects; and including young citizens in city council, public hearings, and formal processes.
The year 2020 and COVID-19 has made many of our cities’ biggest challenges much more apparent. Participants of the upcoming Forum cohort will engage with local governments and provide their perspectives on issues and solutions to most important challenges affecting young people today, including housing, transportation, climate and other local issues.
These participants will have the opportunity to demonstrate that many young residents have the desire to contribute to their communities with inventive and creative solutions so some of our most pressing urban challenges.
The three month-long program, will run online from October 2020 until the end of the year. It will be co-hosted by the North Shore Community Resources (NSCR) and CityHive. Alumni from the 2019 Forum will support and mentor new participants throughout their learning journey.
Anna Boltenko is a North Vancouver resident and a 2019 North Shore Young Citizens Forum alumna.
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