Engaging Youth: 2024 Planners' Day of Service
Thousands of planners convene each year in a designated host city for the American Planning Association's (APA) National Planning Conference (NPC). The Planners' Day of Service provides visiting planners with an opportunity to make a positive impact on NPC's host community.
This year's event, held in Minneapolis on April 13, 2024, aimed to acquaint practicing planners with theories and methodologies for engaging youth in our communities. Applying feedback from last year's event, conference attendees had three ways to participate, including:
- Applying newly learned skills for engaging youth in planning
- Assembling kits to donate to local shelters and nonprofits
- Sponsoring kits or donating kit supplies
Engaging Youth in Planning
The in-person service event was combined with an NPC24 mobile workshop, "Girl Scouts of America: Future Planners," where participants learned theories and methodologies for engaging youth in our communities through a partnership with Youth Engagement Planning (YEP!). The fee for the workshop was reimbursed from a Divisions Council funding award.
YEP! is a planner-led nonprofit that fosters youth participatory planning and project-based learning, engaging students (ages 5-26), educators, and community partners nationwide.
Participants work on applying methodologies for engaging youth in planning. Photo provided by Caroline Dwyer.
Participants at the event explored YEP!'s mission, methodology, resources, and real-world examples like the Women and Planning Division's "Girls Who Plan" program, focusing on developing young people's civic leadership, integrating their voices into planning processes, and diversifying our profession.
Participants also learned to:
- Develop and promote strategies to empower and inspire youth participation in urban planning, civic engagement, and environmental justice topics.
- Amplify diverse youth voices in planning, utilizing culturally sensitive engagement and trauma-informed methodologies.
Involving youth in community governance helps planners forge ties with marginalized communities and diversify our profession by introducing planning as a career option to those lacking exposure.
Planners applied their new skills by leading planning activities for over 100 members of Minnesota's largest Girl Scout Troop, who gathered to commemorate the launch of the Girls Scouts of America's (GSA) inaugural "City Planning" patch.
"Planner in Training" patches for Girl Scouts. Photo provided by Caroline Dwyer.
Planners' Day of Service period rescue donated kits. Photo provided by Caroline Dwyer.
Kit Creation
Additionally, participants assembled kits donated to local shelters and nonprofits, including:
- 100 backpacks filled with school supplies
- 100 hospital hope kits
- 100 hygiene kits
- 100-period rescue packs
Before NPC24, divisions, chapters, and individuals could sponsor a donation kit or purchase supplies for kits. The Women and Planning Division also collected disposable period products during the conference to donate.
APA's Impactful Community Service Events
Planners' Day of Service is an initiative conceived and led by APA Divisions, supported by Divisions Council grant funding. This year's event was spearheaded by the Women and Planning Division, with additional financial and in-kind support from the City Planning and Management Division, Transportation Planning Division, Planning and Law Division, and numerous individuals who contributed to the effort and helped disseminate information.
This endeavor fosters and fortifies inter-divisional relationships, raises awareness of Division benefits, cultivates leadership development opportunities, and facilitates the exchange of information about significant planning issues.
Previous Planners' Day of Service Events:
- NPC18: New Orleans District B Neighborhood Clean Up
- NPC19: San Francisco Fruitvale TOD and Village Beautification Project
- NPC22: San Diego 47th Street Station Corridor Assessment & Clean Up
- NPC23: Philadelphia Planning for Neurodiversity Service Project and Sensory Audit
For further details or to participate in and/or support NPC25 Planners' Day of Service, please email women.apa@gmail.com.
Top image: E+ FilippoBacci