Lights, Camera, Action: Putting Youth Engagement in the Spotlight

Urban Minds’ 2023 Year in Review

If there was one thing that our team got good at doing in 2023, that would be talking. A lot of talking — loudly and boldly about our vision of bringing decision-makers and youth together to create better cities.

This was the year where we saw ourselves on a multitude of platforms and at numerous events, speaking to all kinds of audiences about how we could transform the way youth participate in shaping our communities. We presented at conferences, hosted workshops, organized events, moderated panel discussions, and even went on TV! We have always been passionate about our work, but this year we did particularly well in seizing the opportunities to truly put youth engagement in the spotlight.

We advocated our mission to various professional audiences

Our team traveled to many places this year to share how different disciplines and professions could better approach youth engagement.

We spoke to urban planners from across the province at the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) District Leadership Team Spring Summit in Toronto and at the annual OPPI Conference in Ottawa.

We networked with architects at a Toronto Society of Architects event and with park planners and recreation staff at the Parks and Recreation Ontario Educational Forum in Hamilton.

We shared the stage with placemaking professionals at the Placemaking Canada gathering at Evergreen Brick Works. We exchanged ideas on city-building education with teachers at the Ontario Association of Geographic and Educational Education Conference at York University. We shared our approach to storytelling with emerging leaders at the Ontario Community Changemakers Studio hosted by 8 80 Cities.

We made a lot of cool stuff with our youth

We partnered with different organizations to educate youth about city building through experiential, hands-on activities.

We made models: We co-hosted a model-making workshop with the Infrastructure Institute for middle school students as part of the +(plus) 2.0 exhibit, and we ran a Lego urban design workshop for newcomer youth at Welcome Centre Immigrant Services in Markham.

We made more models: We ran in-class workshops with grade 9 geography students at Bloor Collegiate Institute in Toronto and Port Credit Secondary School in Mississauga, where students worked in teams to reimagine sites like Ontario Place. We co-hosted a workshop with the Black Architects and Interior Designers Association for Black youth interested in city-building professions, where students competed to build the tallest paper tower and creative furniture designs.

And we made even more models: Our 1UP Conference featured a Design Jam where high school students proposed solutions for the Yonge Street intersection underneath the Gardiner Expressway, as part of The Bentway’s Waterfront ReConnect initiative.

We explored the city together: Participants at the 1UP Leaders Lab visited the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood and reimagined the design of Market Lane Park.

We played trivia together: Our monthly 1UP Connect Webinars attendees excelled at our trivia quizzes after learning from guest speakers with expertise in architecture, urban planning, and community engagement.

We toured offices and campuses together: Our youth visited the studios of Urban Strategies, Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, and the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, as part of our 1UP Local Events series in Toronto.

We listened to youth’s ideas and experiences

A significant part of our work in 2023 was organizing events where youth had a platform to share their thoughts and suggestions with an audience.

We heard them on the big stage: Our 2022 1UP Design Competition winners and 1UP School Chapters presented their projects at the Innis Town Hall theatre as part of our Design For Change event for the DesignTO Festival.

We flipped the script: We challenged the typical power dynamics and invited youth advocates to speak as experts on urban issues at our panel discussion event for the Jane’s Walk Festival.

We threw a pizza party: The party doubled up as an “Idea Jam” for the City of Toronto’s Jane Finch Initiative, where youth shared their experiences living in the neighbourhood and their ideas on how to make the community safer and more inclusive.

We gave out free tees: Who doesn’t like a free t-shirt to rep your school? We partnered with The Centre for Active Transportation to host pop-ups at Centennial College, where we listened to students about their commuting experiences. Those who filled out our survey got to bring home some free Centennial-branded swag.

We walked with them in their own neighbourhoods: We teamed up with researchers at the University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, and Western University to interview youth in high-rise communities about how their living environment affects their health. As part of the research grant, we also attended the Healthy Youth Summit, hosted by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, where we heard from other youth and researchers across the country about their work related to public health.

We had breakfast together: We chatted with young residents over some croissants, brownies, and juice to hear their feedback on the City of Markham’s draft recommendations for the Markville Secondary Plan.

We played with beads and skewers: We designed a youth-friendly activity for Bike Share Toronto’s community engagement pop-ups to help inform the location planning of future bike share stations.

We spilled some tea: We organized a “Chinatown Teahouse” event for the City of Toronto’s Chinatown Tomorrow Planning Initiative with the support of local facilitators, many of whom are youth themselves, to listen to the community members’ experiences in the area.

We reached new audiences through digital and mainstream media

Our Outreach Team and 1UP Creatives worked hard this year to increase our profile through different types of media.

We officially launched our 1UP TikTok account this year!

Follow 1UP on TikTok and Instagram to find out about our latest events through the most fun (and random 🙃) reels made by our team, like this one!

We crunched the numbers:

• We have now surpassed 1,800 followers on Instagram, 1,400 followers on LinkedIn, and 1,300 subscribers to our monthly newsletter.
• Our team published a record high of 21 blog posts (this one would be #22) in 2023. Each one covered a different topic, from transportation and housing to career insights in city-building professions.

And finally, we made it on TV!

We were featured on CTV’s The Good Stuff with Mary Berg, where we spoke about how the 1UP Program enables youth to become changemakers in their communities.

Behind the scenes

None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our volunteers and the support of our sponsors. To illustrate this:

• Our core team collectively volunteered more than 3,000 hours of their time this year — that’s the equivalent of over 125 days!
• Our sponsors contributed $27,350 to support the 1UP Program this year, up from $22,300 in 2022.
• More than 50 professionals volunteered as facilitators, speakers, judges, or mentors to support our youth.

As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It truly takes an entire community to raise a generation of youth changemakers. Indeed, it is through talking — conversations with our colleagues about youth engagement, sharing with youth about their roles in city building, and listening to them when they have ideas — that all of us can inspire more collaboration between decision-makers and youth in creating equitable and sustainable communities.

In a tumultuous year of geopolitical conflict and economic uncertainty on the global stage, I am sincerely grateful that our city-building community here in Ontario is showing up to walk the talk and support this mission. Thank you to our community for such an impactful year.

Wishing you a safe and joyous holiday season!

Ryan Lo is the Co-Executive Director of Urban Minds.