Five Models for Meaningful Youth Engagement

Young people are often the ones who will be most impacted by the decisions made today—making their voices critical to conversations and decisions that are shaping the future. However “youth engagement” is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Diverse models exist that can be adapted and combined for different purposes—and ideally developed in collaboration with youth themselves!

In this article, we share five potent approaches to youth engagement, drawing from our past experiences, and invite you to share your models with us as well!

1. Dialogue for Personal Discovery

In an era of increasingly digital engagement and polarized conversations it can be hard for youth to engage in deep conversations around challenging questions. In-person dialogues can open space for youth to draw from their lived experience to surface their fears, hopes and ideas in a group setting.

Dialogue itself can take many forms, including embodied approaches such as Deep Democracy that invites participants to explore complex polarities that exist within the group and within oneself. For example, the 2016 “Is Hope Bullshit” event, co-facilitated by the Centre for Dialogue Executive Director Aftab Erfan, enabled conversations about the threats of climate change, affordability, institutional breakdown and more between youth who choose to actively engage with problem solving and those who choose to retreat from such issues to protect their mental health. The dialogue pushed youth participants beyond surface level statements and encouraged them to ‘try on’ opposing views. The process encouraged vulnerability, reflection, and open dialogue to build shared understanding about the meaning and purpose of hope during a time of overlapping crises. 

2. Project-Based Leadership Development

Common models of youth engagement often limit their contributions to providing input for a decision that is ultimately out of their hands. However, new models are emerging that delegate resources and responsibility to give youth real decision-making power. 

For example, schools in the USA, Portugal, Scotland and elsewhere have introduced youth-oriented participatory budgeting as a civic-education tool. Youth explore issues, identify options and ultimately vote on how to allocate allotted funds. Ultimately, they gain the satisfaction of implementing the winning ideas to realize the real-world impact of their input.

3. Intergenerational Spaces 

While youth-focused engagement can support peer connections and a feeling of youth empowerment, bringing youth into dialogue within an intergenerational setting creates unique opportunities to explore differences, build empathy and find common ground among people who may not usually cross paths. 

For instance, recent Community Assemblies (also known as Citizens’ Assemblies) in New Westminster and Burnaby have brought together broadly representative groups of residents to hear diverse perspectives about civic issues, explore options and trade-offs and make recommendations for their community’s future. Residents as young as 13 have participated alongside members of the community of all other ages. 

4. Mentorship & Networking

A common barrier to youth civic participation is a lack knowledge—including both logistical knowledge about how to participate as well as limited understanding of current events and how systems work. When youth receive sustained mentorship and/or access to networks they can learn from the expertise and experience of others and deepen their potential to make positive change. 

For instance, SFU's signature Semester in Dialogue program created a space for students to dig deep into a particular topic or issue with the aim of inspiring a sense of civic responsibility and teaching the skills needed to pursue concrete actions. Students received Faculty mentorship on civic engagement skills such as public speaking and writing through real-world projects. Additionally, throughout the full-time, semester-long course, diverse Thought Leaders whose work related to the Semester’s theme were invited to engage in dialogue with students on an equal footing instead of presenting to them. Such exposure helped students develop their confidence engaging with authority figures and recognize the value of their own lived experience. 

While the Semester in Dialogue is not currently running, SFU Faculty can learn more about incorporating the Semester In experiential framework in their department. 

5. Youth-Led Dialogues

All too often, youth voices are invited into adult-led agendas. Youth-led dialogue models move beyond this paradigm to give young people the opportunity to frame questions in a way that is meaningful to them and facilitate conversations with peers or community members.  

Continuing the legacy of the Semester in Dialogue, the final assignment in SFU’s new course Grad 720: Methods in Dialogue, Facilitation and Conflict Engagement is a student-designed and student-led public dialogue. In April 2025, the inaugural class led by Dr. Robin Freeman hosted a dialogue on “Reimagining Vancouver as a More-Than-Human City” that drew participants from within the university and the wider community.