The current state of youth engagement
With 42% of the global population under 25, local governments face a critical opportunity to tap into fresh perspectives. Yet research shows that millennials and Gen Z residents encounter significant barriers when trying to engage with their municipalities – from poor communication to opaque processes and limited information access.
This disconnect isn't due to youth apathy: 76% of young people simply believe local officials don't listen to their input. The consequences are evident: Next100 and GenForward research shows trust in local government stands at just 29% among young adults, with only 12% participating in traditional civic activities.
Why traditional engagement falls short
Traditional engagement methods often unintentionally exclude young people. Young people want to be part of shaping their communities. But too often, public engagement doesn’t feel made for them. The meetings are long. The language is formal. And the topics? Not always connected to their everyday lives.
Still, the interest is there. What’s missing is the invitation – and the format that works.
The good news? Small, intentional shifts in your approach can dramatically improve participation. Here are 10 strategies to help you build more inclusive, youth-friendly engagement.
10 strategies for engaging young people
1. Don't assume you know what "young people" want
"Youth" isn't a monolithic group. A high school student, a young immigrant, and a recent graduate can have vastly different needs, constraints, and interests. Effective engagement starts with understanding these distinctions.
What works:
- Conduct a demographic analysis to identify different youth segments in your community
- Run listening sessions with diverse youth groups before designing engagement plans
- Create youth personas to guide your outreach strategy
Implementation guidance: Start by mapping the different youth constituencies in your community. Consider factors like age ranges, educational status, employment situation, and neighborhood. Then, organize informal conversations with representatives from each group to understand their specific barriers to participation and topics of interest.
Start planning for real people you actually understand
Download Part 1 of our blended engagement guide to get practical tools – like our engagement persona worksheet – that help you turn abstract community groups into relatable, designable profiles.
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2. Partner with existing youth groups
Most communities already have robust networks where young people gather: schools, sports clubs, faith organizations, cultural groups, and youth-led initiatives. Rather than building parallel structures, leverage these existing relationships.
Practical steps:
- Map all youth-serving organizations in your community
- Approach leaders with clear, mutually beneficial partnership proposals
- Offer resources that strengthen their work while advancing your engagement goals
- Create formal partnership agreements with clear roles and expectations
Implementation guidance: Develop an asset map of youth-serving organizations in your community. Prioritize organizations that work with youth populations you haven't successfully engaged in the past. Approach these organizations not just as outreach channels, but as potential co-designers of your engagement process.
3. Let them influence the process, not just react to it
When young people only see opportunities to comment on pre-determined options, engagement feels performative. True engagement means sharing power at every stage, from defining problems to implementing solutions.
Implementation framework:
- Co-creation: Involve youth in designing the engagement process itself
- Problem definition: Let young people help identify which issues need addressing
- Solution development: Create space for youth-generated proposals
- Decision-making: Give young people meaningful votes or veto power
- Implementation: Engage youth in bringing solutions to life
Implementation guidance: Begin by asking young people how they would prefer to be engaged on a particular topic. Use their input to design the process, rather than simply inviting them into a pre-determined structure. Create clear documentation that shows how youth input influenced both the process design and final outcomes.
4. Keep it short, clear, and mobile
Digital natives expect streamlined experiences. If your engagement requires downloading PDFs or completing lengthy forms, you've already lost most young participants.
Technical specifications for youth-friendly digital engagement:
- Mobile-first design for all materials
- Maximum 2-minute completion time for surveys
- Reading level: Grade 7-8
- Visual communication whenever possible
- Built-in sharing functionality
Implementation guidance: Test your engagement materials with a small group of young people before launching. Time how long it takes them to complete tasks and gather feedback on clarity and relevance. Continuously monitor completion rates and adjust formats based on user behavior.
5. Connect to what they care about
Young people aren't motivated by abstract concepts like "civic participation." They engage when they see clear connections to issues that affect their daily lives and futures.
High-engagement topics for youth participants:
- Climate action and environmental justice
- Mental health resources and support
- Affordable housing and economic opportunity
- Transportation access and mobility options
- Public spaces and recreational opportunities
- Digital equity and technology access
- Arts, culture, and community identity
Implementation guidance: When framing engagement opportunities, explicitly connect the topic to issues young people have identified as priorities. For example, instead of inviting input on "zoning regulations," frame the conversation around "creating spaces where young people can afford to live and work."
6. Show how their input will matter
The biggest barrier to youth engagement might well be disillusionment. Young people often feel their input disappears without impact, creating a cycle of disengagement.
Accountability framework:
- Set clear expectations about decision-making authority upfront
- Create transparent tracking systems for all input
- Commit to reporting back within specific timeframes
- Document exactly how input influenced outcomes
- Acknowledge when youth recommendations weren't adopted (and explain why)
- Celebrate wins publicly and give credit to young contributors
Implementation guidance: Create a simple tracking system that documents all youth input and shows its status (under consideration, adopted, modified, or rejected with explanation). Share this tracking system publicly and update it regularly.
7. Mix methods: online and in-person
Digital-only or in-person-only approaches create unnecessary barriers. A multi-channel hybrid engagement strategy meets different needs and preferences.
Blended engagement toolkit:
- Quick digital polls for broad input
- Pop-up events in youth-centered spaces
- Peer-to-peer outreach through youth ambassadors
- Creative competitions (videos, art, writing)
- Youth-hosted podcasts or livestreams
- Gamified participation through challenges or competitions
- Hybrid workshops with both physical and virtual components
Implementation guidance: Design engagement processes that allow young people to choose their preferred participation method. Ensure that different input types (e.g., survey responses, workshop notes, online comments) can be integrated into a cohesive analysis framework so no voices are lost.
8. Make it fun (and real)
Engagement doesn't have to be dry to be meaningful. When participation feels enjoyable and purposeful, it becomes self-sustaining.
Engagement design principles:
- Build in social components that strengthen peer connections
- Incorporate elements of play and creative expression
- Provide food and music that create a welcoming atmosphere
- Offer meaningful responsibilities with real authority
- Create structured opportunities to showcase youth leadership
- Balance enjoyment with substantive participation
Implementation guidance: Partner with young people to design engagement events that incorporate both substantive discussion and social elements. Consider how food, music, and interactive activities can make participation more appealing without diminishing the seriousness of the topics being discussed.
9. Invest in young leaders
One-off engagement creates limited value. Building a pipeline of young civic leaders creates lasting capacity and deeper engagement.
Leadership development framework:
- Structured training programs in facilitation and public process
- Paid positions for youth coordinators and facilitators
- Mentorship connections with decision-makers
- Clear pathways to formal advisory or decision-making roles
- Professional development and skill-building opportunities
- Recognition and credentials that support academic or career growth
Implementation guidance: Identify young people who show interest and aptitude for civic leadership. Create formal roles for them within your engagement processes, with appropriate training and compensation. Consider establishing a youth ambassador program that provides leadership development alongside practical engagement experience.
10. Be consistent, not just visible
Sporadic engagement damages trust more than it builds it. Sustainable engagement requires consistent presence and follow-through.
Consistency checklist:
- Maintain regular communication even between project phases
- Create predictable engagement rhythms (e.g., quarterly forums)
- Build engagement into ongoing programs, not just special initiatives
- Develop multi-year youth engagement strategies with stable funding
- Establish consistent staff relationships rather than rotating contacts
- Continuously evaluate and refine approaches based on feedback
Implementation guidance: Develop a youth engagement calendar that ensures regular touchpoints throughout the year, not just during specific projects. Create communication channels that remain active even when formal engagement processes aren't underway, allowing for relationship maintenance and informal feedback.
Want to dive deeper? Download our practitioner’s guide to meaningful youth engagement in local decision-making
Youth engagement is essential if you want to successfully tackle today’s challenges, and it’s something that takes real effort to get right. Download our practitioner’s guide to discover actionable strategies for youth engagement, avoid common pitfalls, and learn from successful case studies from our Go Vocal community.
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