A practical manual on how to conceptualize, structure and facilitate the participation of young people in the community development process.It was developed through the "Growing Up in Cities" project, an originally eight-country UNESCO project (MOST Programme) in Australia, Argentina, India, Norway, Poland, South Africa, United Kingdom and USA), later enlarged to include Lebanon, Papua New Guinea and Sweden. It provides concrete examples of methods that can be used to engage young people in looking at and evaluating their local environment, analyzing and prioritizing key issues and developing and implementing a plan of action.
Case studies from project sites help to demonstrate the methods in action and show how they can be customized to meet local needs.
This manual is an important tool for urban planners, municipal officials, community development staff, non-governmental organizations, educators, youth-serving agencies, youth advocates, and others who are involved in the community development process. It offers inspiration to all who believe in the value of community education and empowerment as a fundamental building block of a vibrant and resilient civil society.
Creating Better Cities with Children and Youth is a companion volume both to Growing up in an Urbanising World (only published in English so far) and the video Children of Thula Mntwana (NTSC), Children of Thula Mntwana (PAL) (available on this site in English, French and Spanish), all resulting from the programme 'Growing Up in Cities'.