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Kebede, Adam

Youth engagement processes have traditionally been plagued both by societyʼs often dismissal of youth, and by applying inappropriate engagement strategies and mechanisms. The needs and preferences of young people are different than those of adults, and therefore we cannot assume the same treatment (Talen and Coffindaffer 1999; Terrible 2000). This Masters professional project describes a novel approaches to youth engagement: the “Green Streets Game” (GSG). The GSG is a collaborative, urban design board game that was used in soliciting youth input during the planning of the Point Grey Road-Cornwall Ave Active Transportation Corridor (henceforth: PGCC) between March 2013 and April 2013. In all, 371 young people, aged 6 – 17, who attended elementary schools and high schools within the studyʼs corridor played the GSG and, thus, were involved in the engagement process. The goals of this professional project are twofold: (1) to provide an evaluation of both the effectiveness of the GSG as a tool for youth engagement, and, (2) ʻ The Green Streets Game PGCC Youth Engagement Reportʼ capacity to provide actionable information on their active transportation needs and design preferences for the City of Vancouver Engineering Services Department. In total three frameworks of evaluation are used to: I first evaluate whether the GSG has the capacity to effectively address the youth engagement goals of Rowe and Frewerʼs (2005) Typology of Engagement Mechanisms. Second, I use Frankʼs (2006) Five Lessons for Youth Participation to evaluate if the engagement tool addresses youth needs and preferences. To understand whether the GSG provided the City of Vancouver (CoV) Streets Department with actionable information on local youth active transportation needs, in August 2014 I conducted a focus group with two City of Vancouver planning staff that are were closely involved in the PGCC project. Based on the evaluation, the GSG was deemed to effectively engage youth, meeting all of Rowe and Frewerʼs engagement goals for the type of information flow model (Type 3 Participation) the GSG was intended to serve. The game performed moderately well in terms of its effectiveness as a youth engagement tool; it met most of Frankʼs (2005) five lessons, but did not adequately adapt the sociopolitical context towards youth. In discussions with the two planning staff, it was agreed that the game performed well, but the game did not fully account for the real-life economic and legal constraints to planning new facilities. In conclusion, the staff indicated that the GSG youth report provided “eye opening” feedback and has successfully influenced design outcomes, and continues to inform neighborhood initiatives. Despite certain deficiencies, the evidence indicates the GSG effectively engages youth, suggesting that it could be an effective tool for youth engagement in future planning exercises.

Text

University of British Columbia. SCARP Graduating Projects

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0075848

Applied Science, Faculty of; Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of

Graduate

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