Urban Minds is a Canadian non-profit organization with a mission to create meaningful ways for youth to shape equitable and sustainable cities.

At Urban Minds, we want to transform youth engagement for city-building projects from being a tiresome chore into an inspiring journey. We want to change the perception of youth as lesser, passive participants to that of youth as capable, active co-creators.

However, municipalities and civic organizations have a hard time engaging youth. They don’t know how to reach them, how to appeal to them, and how to effectively involve them. They have limited time and resources, or find it awkward, to cultivate relationships with youth.

​We help municipalities and civic organizations to better connect with youth and design youth-friendly spaces, programs, and services. We help our clients develop effective recruitment strategies and identify incentives to get youth involved. We also act as relationship builders to bridge the gap between our clients and the youth we work with.

Founded in 2016, our team has directly worked with over 600 students from more than 60 schools across the Greater Toronto Area. Through our 1UP Youth City Builders Program, we inspire and equip high school students to lead their own community design-build projects and co-design spaces with our clients. Our first youth-friendly public art installation, #WouldYouRatherTO, is a winner of the Everyone is King: Design-Build Competition for the King Street Pilot Project in Toronto.

Today, we continue to build relationships with municipalities and civic organizations to help them deliver their strategic and design objectives through youth engagement.

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The 8 Rules of Youth Engagement

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#1. Welcome youth as co creators​

Adults put forward tired, mediocre solutions as they revert back to their existing knowledge about the world. Youth, on the other hand, are not hindered by the baggage of being a grown up and are not afraid to explore more imaginative solutions.

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​#2. Seek trailblazing ideas

​Acknowledge their capabilities as critical thinkers and doers. Engaging them once is not enough, but actively engaging them as problem solvers throughout the duration of your project will provide added value.

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#3. Treat youth as Experts

They aren’t who you think (or what the media say they are. Create space for them at the table and take notes as their unique perspectives will advance yourproject.

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#4. Invest in youth early one

Initiate the conversation right from the start to avoid paying for your mistakes later on. Your project is doomed to fail unless it meets their real needs, so stop making assumptions and start listening.

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#5. Be creative & intentional 

If you see youth engagement as a chore, they will too. Find fun ways for them to take part in your project and make the experience a meaningful one.

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#6. Meet youth where they are

Expecting them to come to you is a pipe dream. You’ll have better luck finding them at school, in community centres, shopping malls, and other places where they congregate.

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#7. Build up champions

Engaging youth early on and regularly increases their sense of ownership over the project. Partner with them, maintain open communication, and provide them with resources so they can become champions and ambassadors of your project.

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#8. Shape a future that youth desire

Leverage their hyper-awareness and progressive values on social and environmental issues. Become their ally so that, together, you can create intergenerational spaces that you’re proud of.

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The Evolution of Urban Minds

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Our goals for the next 5 years

Our dream is to build a strong community of young city builders and working professional allies. We want to be city builders and relationship builders who continue to bridge the gap between youth and decision makers. In addition to expanding the 1UP Program and our consulting practice, our focus over the next 5 years will be to facilitate even more connections between youth and professionals. We want to make it easier for young people of all backgrounds to have access to volunteering and mentorship opportunities related to city building. We want to help planners and designers incorporate ideas from youth by quickly finding an active and diverse audience. We plan to build a platform for this community to work together and co-create solutions for our cities.

Have a youth-facing project in mind?

Our consulting services can help you get more youth input while saving you time and resources.

Learn more