IOC Publishes White Paper: Engaging Youth in Local Government

There is widespread consensus that young people have a right to be directly involved in decisions that affect them, and an understanding that adults are the ones who must create formal pathways of engagement. Yet there remains limited empirical information about the best ways to do so.

The latest IOC white paper, Engaging Youth in Local Government: Lessons from the Boston Region identifies key lessons gleaned from a multi-method study of twenty-four operating municipal youth councils throughout the greater Boston region.

Click here to access Engaging Youth in Local Government.

The paper was authored by Astraea Augsberger, Assistant Professor in the Boston University School of Social Work (SSW); Mary Collins, Associate Dean and Professor at the BU SSW; Whitney Gecker, Doctoral Student at the BU SSW; Katharine Lusk, Executive Director of the BU Initiative on Cities; Francesco Tena, Manager of the Boston Mayor’s Youth Council; and Sharl Davis, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Participatory Budgeting Project.