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.
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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 1,000 students across Ontario. 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. |
The 8 Rules of Youth Engagement
#1. Welcome youth as co creatorsAdults 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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#5. Be creative & intentionalIf 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 areExpecting 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 championsEngaging 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 desireLeverage 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
Our goals for the next 5 yearsOur 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.
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Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that the land of Tkarónto, where Urban Minds is currently based, is the territory of many First Nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, the Huron Wendat people, First Nations, Inuit and Métis people. Our existence in this place would not have been possible without their caretaking of the Land since time immemorial. These First Nations used the land of Tkarónto for transportation, travel, trade, hunting, and living. We also recognize that our organization benefits from historical and ongoing colonization of Indigenous Peoples in so-called Canada and the existence of settler urban centres.
We affirm the rights under Treaty 13 made between The First Nations and the crown to respect the traditions, sovereignty, cultures, and languages of all First Nations on this land.
We are dedicated to honouring the relationship between these First Nations and the land that Urban Minds is founded on. Inspired by the Seventh Generation Principle, we will actively work towards more equitable and sustainable communities for future generations and will be an ally in supporting Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
We affirm the rights under Treaty 13 made between The First Nations and the crown to respect the traditions, sovereignty, cultures, and languages of all First Nations on this land.
We are dedicated to honouring the relationship between these First Nations and the land that Urban Minds is founded on. Inspired by the Seventh Generation Principle, we will actively work towards more equitable and sustainable communities for future generations and will be an ally in supporting Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
Positionality Statement
We acknowledge that colonialism, systemic racism, ageism, ableism, heterosexism, and socioeconomic exclusion are inherently embedded in the systems and processes that shape the communities we live in. They have been designed, either overtly or covertly, to benefit some groups and harm others. The city-building professions we represent and partner with also remain overrepresented by adult, white, able-bodied, educated, wealthy, straight and cis-gender male settlers. By participating in these same systems and processes, we understand that Urban Minds is also inevitably contributing to and benefitting from this flawed structure. While our mission is focused on youth engagement, we know youth are not a homogenous group and many of them face barriers to participate because of their various identities. Therefore, we are committed to critically examine our work and organization to ensure that we are actively dismantling these barriers from within the larger city-building structure. We know we may not get it right all the time, but we commit to always learn from our mistakes and do better. We invite you to keep us accountable and provide us feedback at [email protected].