CWBR YOUTH – PLANED

What is CWBR Youth?

CWBR Youth ran 2022-2024, and sought to improve the involvement of young people in the work of Pembrokeshire Town / Community Councils (TCCs). The project took a youth-led approach and had three phases: initial engagement, place-based youth voice gathering and developing local solutions to sustaining engagement. In total 164 events involved 2225 young people and 957 adult attendances took place. Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive.

We have successfully and meaningfully improved the involvement of young people in the work of a number of TCCs (St Davids, Fishguard & Goodwick, Newport, Cardigan, Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock), by facilitating engagement that has met needs and supported Councillors and young people to communicate, develop relationships and identify ways forward. Other Councils have not engaged, or for a range of reasons not sustained their engagement with us or young people in their community.

We have identified success factors for, and key barriers to better involvement of young people in the work of Town and Community Councils.

Put simply, success in this regard requires Councils and Councillors to strategically approach youth involvement, reach out to and develop communication and trust with representative young people, to take meaningful action and feedback on progress, and to repeat this cycle.

This does require work and commitment, but needn’t take much time, or cost a great deal.

Key barriers:

Resourcing Issues: Capacity and resourcing of the youth sector, and more co-productive approaches to engagement

Awareness issues: Low awareness across all sectors of Wellbeing of Future Generations act goals and ways of working, Coproduction and engagement theory and practice, youth opportunities / youth voice etc, and working at strategic levels.

Communication issues: Ineffective communication channels between young people, their advocates, and decision-makers, in particular Town and Community Councillors, and the need for better promotion of existing youth voice platforms and positive youth behaviours to reach a broader audience and change the narrative

Active Listening and Engagement: Widespread lack of listening to youth voices and acting upon their feedback, Instances of tokenistic engagement where youth input is not genuinely considered or implemented, and Decision-makers need to commit to regular and meaningful engagement with young people.

Systemic and Cultural Barriers: Prejudices and biases against the opinions of young people by older generations who need to be more open-minded and accepting of youth perspectives. Existing organizations sometimes engage with youth in a tokenistic manner rather than proactively encouraging and nurturing their input.

Accessibility: Limited accessibility of platforms and opportunities for youth to voice their opinions, and widespread need for inclusive and safe spaces where young people can freely express themselves.

Capacity and Training: Need for training and capacity-building for both youth and adults to improve the quality of youth participation, and in particular decision-makers / others to work strategically and better listen to / engage with young people.

Representation and Diversity: Ensuring diverse and representative youth voices are heard, not just a select few. Engaging a broader demographic of young people- in particular older young people aged 16-25 – to ensure inclusivity in youth participation initiatives.

CWBR Youth Recommendations

Feedback from participants and project stakeholders based on their experiences has informed 22 recommendations; some for ALL organisations, and some for the Town and Community Council sector.