Would you like to empower your youth with the knowledge and skills to be change-makers in their communities?
CityShapers in Communities (formerly Climate Action Jam) is a program for youth (ages 13-30) to learn how the City of Vancouver operates and make policy decisions to understand ways to take local climate or public space-related action. We will host these workshops with our community partners – all workshops are for youth in your networks.
Overview
Fall 2024 will be the first iteration of this program, which will build upon Climate Action Jam sessions hosted since 2022 and expand upon some of our offerings from CityShapers in Schools. This redeveloped program uses feedback from CityHive’s previous offerings to offer new and exciting learning opportunities in civics, climate action, public space, and the intersections of these topics, regardless of youths’ current level of understanding.
The workshop series follows the Knowledge-to-Action Framework:
CityHive’s Knowledge-to-Action Framework is rooted in community-based learning, relationship building, and partner-supported action planning. This framework builds a learning arc that enables youth to come to the program with any level of understanding or knowledge about civics, climate change, and public space to then develop bold actions to address local challenges.
Workshop Structure
There are two streams in this program. Each workshop lasts for two hours including breaks.
- The Climate Action stream aims to build climate literacy, learn about local municipal climate policies and initiatives, and gain confidence in participating in conversations about climate change so that participants can get involved in climate action.
- The Public Space stream aims to improve youths’ understanding of public space and placemaking, explore local and global innovative public design examples informed by community needs, and how youth can get involved in shaping their communities to be healthier, safer, and more resilient.
Both streams include core CityHive workshops about local governments, what they do and how they operate; a deep dive into local climate action or public space; and how youth can get civically engaged to create change in their communities. Participants will explore diverse examples in an interactive, comfortable learning environment and create solutions-based action projects.
Climate Stream
Workshop 1: Intro to Cities, Systems, and Climate
What is Indigenous community governance? What do different levels of government do? What is climate change, and how does it affect cities?
Workshop 2: Deep Dive into Local Climate Solutions
What is the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and the Climate Emergency Action Plan? What are examples of climate resilience?
Workshop 3: Civic Agency and Climate Action
What is civic agency? What are the differences between informal and formal action? How can residents take part in combating climate change?
Workshop 4: My Climate Action Plan
What can youth do to take climate action? What must they consider?
Public Space Stream
Workshop 1: Intro to Cities, Systems, and Public Space
What is Indigenous community governance? How do different levels of government work? How is this related to public space?
Workshop 2: Deep Dive into Public Space
What are the different types of public space? Why do youth-friendly spaces matter?
Workshop 3: Civic Agency and Public Space Design
What is civic agency? How can youth use their civic agency to make change happen?
Workshop 4: Public Space Design Studio
Are you interested in bringing this program to youth in your community? We are seeking community partners to host this workshop series with community groups across the City of Vancouver.
