Markville Secondary Plan Study

What do youth prioritize in their community?

Visioning Workshop

As part of the youth engagement process of the Markville Secondary Plan Study, Urban Minds hosted a youth visioning workshop to a group of over 50 students at a local high school.

After a brief overview of the purpose of the workshop and the study area, the students were asked to individually sketch out their observations of the area, including important places they would frequent and how they would get to places.

The students then worked together in teams of five or six to create vision boards using Google Jamboard on their laptops, where they added sticky notes and images to describe what is missing in the study area and what they would like to see in the future.

Focus Group Workshop

Following the first youth visioning workshop, Urban Minds hosted a focus group workshop at a local youth centre. The participants were given a brief overview of the purpose of a secondary plan and a summary of the themes and ideas discussed at the previous visioning workshop. They were then introduced to the current development options being proposed for Markville.

The participants were split into teams and were paired with a facilitator to complete a "Roses, Thorns, and Buds" activity. They were asked to identify the things they liked (roses), disliked (thorns) or thought could be improved (buds) in the options being proposed for Markville. The youth were then asked to vote on their favourite aspects of the options relating to built form, park size, and land uses.

The feedback provided by the participants helped to inform the project team as they develop a "preferred" option to present to city council.