A poll released today, by Unicef in partnership with Votes for Schools, reveals that more than 8 out of 10 children (81%) do not feel that they are being listened to with regards to key political decisions. With COP26 fast approaching most of the narrative has been on what type of response the emerging climate crises will illicit from leaders around the world. However, one aspect that has been refreshing is the collective appreciation of the importance of the role that young people have played in discussions around tackling the crisis.
The participation of younger people in this global debate demonstrated three things. Firstly – that young people have considered opinions. Secondly – that they have a desire to be included (and feel that they currently aren’t) and, lastly, that the decisions taken by older generations will impact them the most. This sentiment was echoed by Boris Johnson who only a few weeks ago, when addressing the Youth4Climate Conference in Milan, emphasised that ‘it will be young people who are left to deal with the consequences’ in reference to important political decisions of the day.
That’s why it is increasingly important that the younger generations are encouraged to participate in all aspects of policy making – not just on global issues. A University College London report into ‘Youth Engagement in Planning’ has previously noted that that ‘the exclusion of young people from formal planning procedure is of profound concern’ and that’s why the sector has an obligation to continue to seek to include young people within consultation programmes. Young people often have different, and unexpected, viewpoints that can meaningfully assist with the development of proposals. This rich tapestry should be a first thought when engaging with communities, not an afterthought.
At ECF, we take Equality Impact Assessments (EqIA) extremely seriously and it often forms the bedrock of the consultative work that we undertake – we are committed to ensuring all activities undertaken during our engagement programmes invite and include all people. Age is certainly one element that often gets overlooked within communities – and that’s why we create bespoke Youth Engagement approaches for everyone that we work with – to ensure that clients and communities can collaborate together effectively.
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