Youth Commissions: Empowering the Next Generation to Shape Their Communities

By: Teun Deuling, AICP | APA WA Youth in Planning Task Force Member

Long-range planning sets the stage for a community's future, yet the community members who will inherit that future—youth—are often missing from the conversation. Youth commissions, or councils, can be a powerful and effective avenue for engaging and empowering young people in community planning.

Youth provide unique and fresh voices to the dialogue about creating great places. The Youth in Planning Task Force aims to raise youth awareness of the importance of their voice informing our future and to provide resources for teachers, planners, and public officials to engage youth in planning processes that generate lasting value. 

The Task Force has reached out to cities and counties across the state to find examples of these structures and better understand the different approaches to youth involvement.

Some examples include having a youth representative on each board and commission, having a youth position on their council, and having a commission run by a non-profit that serves both the city and county. This variety of approaches highlights that accessible opportunities to empower youth in planning exist for each community no matter their size, fiscal environment, or political structure.

Please make sure to check out the resources available on the Youth in Planning webpage to learn more about communities with formal structures for youth involvement.

For more information or if you want to share your experience working with youth commissions, please contact the Task Force Co-chairs: Steve Butler at [email protected], Stephanie Velasco at [email protected], or Elizabeth Erickson at [email protected].