Youth Engagement Strategy

For more information on the advancement of the Youth Engagement Strategy, check out details from the Youth Engagement Working Group or follow City Influencers.

A final report outlining the recommendations from the Youth Engagement Action Team was submitted to Committee of the Whole for discussion at the Oct. 14 meeting. Check it out here.

In late fall 2019 the City of St. John’s recruited a Youth Engagement Action Team (YEAT) to provide perspectives on how youth currently engage with the City of St. John’s, identify barriers to engagement, determine tools for engagement, topics of interest to youth, and determine how the City can improve both how it communicates to youth, and how youth experience public engagement.

Through its work, the team familiarized themselves with current City programs and services, and undertook outreach and public engagement with youth 15-35 via:

• A booth at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market
• A booth at the Winter MUN Career Fair
• Engagestjohns.ca online discussion
• An online survey

More than 2,400 people in St. John’s connected with the project in some way through the engagement process and nearly 900 young people completed the online survey.

Highlights of the ‘What We Heard’ document include:

• Young people are generally interested in learning about how they can be more engaged/informed in city matters and civic engagement.
• Most young people do not feel actively engaged in civic matters and had limited involvement in public engagement on city projects over the past few years.
• Providing feedback on programs and services is important to young people and there are some key topics of interest including: parks, trails and open spaces, environment and sustainability issues, active transportation, traffic, roads and parking.
• Some people experience barriers to participation, most notably: awareness of the topic/opportunity, time to participate, format of the events, scheduling, and location.
• Some people question how much influence they could have over decision making.

The full ‘What We Heard’ document is now available here and will be used to inform recommendations which will be presented to council in the coming weeks.

Thank you to everyone who completed the youth engagement survey. The survey closed end of day Friday, March 20. Nearly 900 surveys were completed with almost 400 people entering the prize draw. Six winners were chosen at random. Data is currently being analyzed, and work continues via distance with the Youth Engagement Action Team to map our recommendations.

Congrats to our survey winners

• Bruce Chafe
• Mary Alliston Butt
• Rohit Madan
• Thea Cammoe
• Ashleigh Collett
• Melanie Escott

The Roaring 2020s

By Melissa Wong, member of the City of St. John’s Youth Engagement Action Team

What is your new year’s resolution?

The question was causally asked at the birth of the new decade. It was midnight, and I was standing in a driveway, watching some neighbors shooting off fireworks into the night sky.

What was my resolution for the start of the new decade?

In the 1920s, women had won the right to vote and rebelled against old traditions by throwing parties and making bold fashion choices. The 20s have returned. Maybe, with them, a new age of rebellion?

My boyfriend might have expected me to joke about swearing off chocolate, but I was feeling philosophical that night.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m scared. I might have to leave my family and this province one day if I cannot find permanent full-time work.”

To read the rest of this post click here.

Are you between the ages of 15 and 35 and living in St. John's? Do you have opinions about City matters? Take a few minutes to provide the City with feedback which will help inform our youth engagement strategy. Participants can opt in to a prize draw for a chance to win one of six $50 gift card. See details here.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YouthStJohns

Survey open until March 20.

The Youth Engagement Action Team (YEAT) selection was finalized and the names of the team members shared publicly at the Monday, Nov. 18th meeting of St. John's City Council.

There was tremendous response to the request for volunteers with more than 50 applications received. The selection committee made every effort to select a diverse group representing all geographies of the city while being mindful of the need to have a team that reflected the 15-35 year old demographic.

YEAT will begin its work immediately and will be reaching back to the community for feedback throughout the next few weeks.

The team members are noted here.

Ankur Sheohare

Hannah Baker

Melissa Berkshire

Lindsey Hynes

Krystle Hayden

Heidi Williams

Colton Purchase

Nathan Barnes

Conor Flanagan

Maria Penney

Danielle Douglas

Claire "Clarke" Edwards

Grace Walsh

Lindsee Clark

Ian Campbell

Rose Avoine-Dalton

Nabeel Mansoor

Lindsay Allen

Melissa Wong

Mandy Penney

Ben James

We need you(th)?

Are you between 15 and 35?

Live in St. John's?

Feel like you have something to say?

Want to make a contribution to your City?

Put your name forward for YEAT. Simply send an e-mail to engage@stjohns.ca and tell us why you want to become involved. Here's what else we'll need to know about you:

• Name
• Age
• Where you live (ward is fine)
• What you do? Student? Work? Represent a youth based organization, etc?
• Can you commit to meetings, either in-person or online, during November and December?
• Anything else you think we might need to know about you to ensure we have a good representation of youth across the city