Youth-Led City Building: Thriving at 1UP Conference 2024
This blog is a recap of Urban Minds’ and 1UP Youth-City Builders’ annual youth conference, written by youth involved in the organizing of the event.
As the 1UP Creatives Team 2023–2024 wraps up our term, we wanted to reflect on our last major event that we helped organize: 1UP Conference 2024!
First and foremost, we’d like to thank all of the participants, speakers, and volunteers who helped make 1UP Conference 2024 a success! We had a blast during the 2 days and we hope that everyone else enjoyed it as much as we did. It was a wonderful experience being able to connect with so many creative, brilliant, and innovative minds in one room, and seeing our creations potentially shape our cities.
Day 1 Recap:
On Day 1 of the Conference, we got the opportunity to hear from panelists from various city-building fields about their experiences as professionals within the field. Afterwards, participants got the chance to participate in a Scavenger Hunt in nearby districts: Distillery District, Corktown, and Canary District! Prompts ranged from taking photos of members interacting with public installations to identifying mixed-use development.
After lunch, we listened to pitches from 1UP Design-Build School Chapters Milliken Mills High School, Crescent School, Agincourt Collegiate Institute, and Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute! Each school demonstrated incredible ideas on how they would reinvent each of their unique school spaces — you should all be very proud of yourselves!
We ended off Day 1 with a networking session to allow participants to spark discussions with others at the event, and create meaningful connections within the group.
Daphne’s MC perspective:
I got the honour of MC along, with Audy Noor on Day 1. It was rewarding, gratifying, and as always, an opportunity to learn and grow. We faced technical challenges, last-minute schedule changes, and nerves. But Audy and I kept the energy high, fuelled by the support by our attendees, and recharged by the amazing dance performances in-between. Knowing that we had helped host and contribute to creating a memorable conference for the attendees was incredibly fulfilling.
The 1UP Conference this year held a special significance as we experimented with a shift, transitioning from a single-day conference to a comprehensive two-day schedule for the first time. This meant that some of our attendees got overnight accommodation, close to the Conference, so that they could return back the second day. It was amazing seeing many participants on Day 1 return for more on Day 2.
Day 2 Recap:
Day 2 started off with a Pitching Workshop led by Tatiana Soldatova, Co-Founder of Syllable Inc. Tatiana shared invaluable insights into the practice of pitching, drawing from her own experiences in public speaking, and mission to propel projects into innovation.
Next, the 1UP Design Jam took place. We got the opportunity to re-imagine the Downsview Airport lands, in collaboration with Northcrest Developments. Tasked with reimagining a segment of this former airfield, nearly 370 acres of undeveloped land in the heart of Toronto, participants brainstormed creative concepts and empathized with potential personas to inhabit the space.
Our team envisioned the space as a sanctuary and communal hub accessible to individuals of all backgrounds and demographics. From a central dome as a versatile venue for activities ranging from yoga classes to painting sessions, to the strategic placement of a telescope atop the runway to take advantage of the high point, our pitch aimed to tell a story while walking through the different design elements.
Following the inspiring presentations of fellow design teams, as well as careful judge deliberation, our team was humbled and grateful to be announced as the winners — a testament to our shared vision, creativity, and dedication to building lively, welcoming communities in the heart of our cities.
Final words:
As 1UP Co-Presidents, we were heavily involved in the planning process for the 1UP Conference and have been working on developing the event — alongside other 1UP and Urban Minds members — since November of 2023. Our team meticulously planned and developed everything from the Conference theme “Thrive: Planning the Year-Round City” to the 3D Printed trophies. It has been amazing to see evidence of our labour come to life.
Our exit from the 1UP Youth City Builders Program as Co-Presidents is bittersweet — grateful for the incredible memories, and humbled by the visionaries of our future city builders. We’ll continue to engage within the 1UP and Urban Minds community as we head off to university, and share the mission of youth advocacy in shaping sustainable and equitable cities wherever we go. To the 2024–2025 Creatives team, we wish you best of luck!
By Daniel Sun & Daphne Zhu (1UP Co-Presidents)
Learn more about how the 1UP Youth City Builders program supports youth-led city building.
