Shaping the way we engage with young people
If we want stronger, more engaged communities in the future we need to start by supporting the people that will shape them; young people.
At Conversation Co, we talk a lot about participation, building trust and empowering people to have their say. But one thing we experience time and time again is that young people want to be involved, they have opinions, they are just not always given the opportunity or space to participate. Upskilling young people is not just about employment. It is about confidence, connection and giving them the tools and opportunities to contribute in meaningful ways.
Young people are the experts in their own lives. One of the biggest mistakes organisations can make is assuming young people need to be told what matters to them or that they aren’t interested or have something to contribute. In reality, young people are the experts in their own experiences. They understand what it is like to grow up in their community today. They know what works, what does not and what needs to change. They also understand how young people communicate, connect and participate in ways that are often different from older generations.
When we recognise young people as experts and co-creators, not just participants, the quality of engagement changes completely. Conversations become honest, ideas more relevant and the outcomes are stronger because they reflect real lived experience, not assumptions.
Across many of our projects, young people tell us similar things. They want to feel heard and they want opportunities to engage and influence decisions that feel real and not tick box or tokenistic.
For many young people, this will be the first time they have been involved in a project. That means the way we invite them in really matters. If the purpose is not clear, if the process feels confusing, or if the environment does not feel safe, young people are much less likely to participate. But when they understand what the project is about, what they can and can’t influence and what will happen with their feedback, their confidence grows quickly.
Support to participate is just as important as the opportunity itself. Young people need the right methods and the right environment. That might mean pop-ups at places they already go to, online engagement that feels easy to use, group activities, or creative approaches like photography projects and youth led surveys. It also means creating a space where young people feel safe to speak, where they will not be put on the spot and where different opinions are managed respectfully. Thinking about power matters too. Young people are aware of how they are viewed by others, so meaningful engagement means recognising the value of their contribution rather than assuming they are not interested or unable to share their point of view.
Confidence grows when young people are trusted with real roles, not just invited to attend. When they help shape questions, test ideas, write content, recruit other young people, support communications or contribute to the final outcomes, the experience becomes meaningful and relevant. When it feels meaningful, young people respond. And once young people have a positive experience, they are far more confident and willing to participate again in the future.
There are simple ways to embed youth voice and build young people’s capacity within any project. Start by giving young people a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve and what they can influence. Involve them in planning the engagement, testing communications, helping with recruitment and even analysing the feedback. When young people feel part of the process rather than just giving feedback, the outcomes are stronger because they reflect lived experiences rather than assumptions.
It is also important to think about what young people gain from being involved. Could it support a school or university project? Could it count as work experience? Can you provide a certificate, training or a reference? Acknowledging their time matters too. Small things like free food, vouchers, competitions, prizes or hosting an event can make participation feel valued and worthwhile.
Across a number of our projects, we have seen how powerful it is when young people are trusted with real roles.
When we worked with Frankston City Council on their Council Plan, we ran a workshop with the Frankston Youth Council. The insights were so valuable that Council asked us to run more workshops with young people. Two Youth Council members worked alongside us to redesign the agenda, shape the activities and facilitate the sessions. They were supported with facilitation training and played a genuine role in delivering the workshops. The experience was incredibly rewarding for them and the quality of feedback was much stronger because it was led by young people.
We saw something similar when developing the Loddon Youth Strategy. We hired a local young person into the project team to help facilitate community pop-ups and support the data collection. They became a champion for the project, promoting it to their peers, reviewing the engagement questions and helping us understand where young people spend their time. At a pop-up at a local football match, we even ran a friendly competition between the two clubs to see which team could provide the most feedback, with a three hundred dollar voucher as the prize for their club. Young people encouraged their friends and family to take part, which significantly increased participation.
Simple things also made a big difference. We created a safe and private space for young people to share more personal responses, used bright and engaging materials to attract attention and provided small incentives like canteen vouchers and free fruit when we visited schools. It was not complicated, but it showed young people that their voice mattered and that this was something designed with them in mind.
Another approach that has worked incredibly well is including young people on community panels. When young people are part of a panel alongside other community members, the discussion changes in a really positive way. They often raise different perspectives, highlight issues that older participants have not considered and bring a much more current understanding of how people connect, communicate and experience their community.
What we consistently see is that young people contribute thoughtfully and respectfully, and their input strengthens the overall conversation. In fact, some of the most positive feedback we receive comes from other panel members. Older participants regularly comment on how valuable the young person’s contribution has been, how well they expressed their views and how much they added to the process. It often challenges assumptions about young people not being interested or not wanting to be involved.
It also creates something really important for young people themselves. Being part of a panel shows them that their voice is taken seriously and that they can influence decisions that affect their community. That confidence carries forward into future opportunities and helps build a stronger culture of participation across the whole community.
Tips for embedding youth voice and young people’s capacity building into projects:
Providing young people with an understanding of engagement and overview of the project, what you are trying to achieve, what you can and can’t influence, who are the key people involved, community context and current issues mapping, and what will happen with the feedback.
Involve young people as recruiters or community connectors: involve them in plugging the project, getting friends and school mates to come along or develop a kit for young people to run their own engagements and feed back to the project team.
Involve young people in the project planning process: scoping, developing engagement questions, co-design is the gold star.
Involve a young person as your comms expert: test your copy and engagement questions with young people, young people can be your comms advisor (developing copy, communications planning, choosing the comms mix and platforms).
Host a focus group with young people to test your brand, comms approach, and design.
Go to where the young people are, this can be sporting grounds, shopping centres, schools, libraries, universities, green spaces, or FREEZA events.
Recruit young people as conversation facilitators in a supported environment.
Test and prioritise feedback and findings (what rings true for the group?) support to understand thematic analysis, data collection ethics and process, and reporting findings.
Involve young people in the write up: allocate sections, deliberate or brainstorm on recommendations, test with young people for clarity in language.
Provide ways to stay involved with the project.
Identify ways young people can benefit from involvement: can this be used for a school/uni assignment? Work experience? Provide a recommendation or training component?
Acknowledge young people’s time and contribution, provide an honorary payment and certificate.
Incentives:
Free food
Competitions & Prizes
Vouchers for local facilities (pools, gyms etc)
Host an event
Training: book an interesting speaker to add value, provide a rundown of the skills people might come away with from the day
