National Dialogue for Youth Engagement in Public Service

The Public Policy Forum has a history of engaging young Canadians in the area of public policy and public service. This includes the annual Young Leaders Awards and a 2007 series of multi-generational roundtables on challenges facing the public service. Recently the Forum launched the PPX initiative, which brings young Canadians together on a range of policy issues.

Now the Forum, with the support of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), is preparing to launch an ambitious three-year initiative to engage young people in an important national dialogue on public participation. First, this cross-country enterprise will engage some 10,000 young Canadians in an effort to articulate their vision of a thriving civic culture for the future. Then, working together with a national network of public service leaders, they will chart a course to begin realizing the vision through a series of pilot projects.                                                                                                                    

The Challenge

Are young Canadians engaged by the ideals of public service? Are concepts like 'public participation' and 'serving the public' the same for this generation as for the current group of leaders?

This much is clear - traditional forms of public participation, such as voting, joining a political party, or planning a career in government, do not engage young Canadians today as they may have earlier generations. However, young people are highly involved in other ways, such as voluntary initiatives.

They have also developed creative ways of using internet tools to expand their sense of public space; and to engage one another in what some see as exciting new forms of public participation and public service.

These changes raise real questions about the future of public participation, public debate and public service in Canada. What forms will they take for the next generation? How will this affect our society and our democracy?

The Dialogue

Through this dialogue the Forum will provide the venue in which young people can develop and articulate their vision of civic participation and responsibility; one that inspires them to engage meaningfully and fully in community life; and that provides clear guidance to public organizations who are seeking to engage them. A dialogue to arrive at such a vision will involve four basic tasks.

  1. Understanding how youth want to participate in public life begins with a clearer understanding of how they view the issues that occupy them. The national dialogue will allow young people to explore, discuss, articulate and define their view of the issues of the day and how citizens and institutions should respond to them.
  2. Young people today use internet technologies to engage one another, form relationships and participate in community life in new and potentially transformative ways. The dialogue will explore how this affects their view of public participation; and how it may differ from previous generations.
  3. If the dialogue is to lead to a clear statement of a shared vision of civic involvement and responsibility that reflects young people's aspirations and experiences, it must be designed to bring out the common values, principles, ideas and goals that underlie their discussions of the issues; then it must mobilize young people around them. Accordingly, the dialogue will progress through three distinct phases, from gathering views, to deliberative discussion, to defining and launching pilot projects.
  4. Public space and our public institutions are something all generations share together. Articulating a vision that could redefine or even transform them therefore must involve an intergenerational dialogue.

The Process

Gathering Views:  This dialogue process will begin with the launch of this first phase in the spring of 2010. It will involve some 10,000 youth (ages 17- 30) in Canada through online discussions, surveys and town hall forums. The Forum will work closely with a National Youth Advisory Council to help design and carry out the discussions. In addition, a National Public Service Network of some 40 key decision makers from relevant sectors, institutions and organizations will provide feedback and advice. The members of the Network will also be key participants in the intergenerational dialogue and sponsors for the pilot projects in the final stage.

Deliberation: Regional roundtables held in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, BC and the North, and online forums, will be used to engage some 2500 young Canadians in facilitated, deliberative discussions of key issues arising from the previous phase. Partners in each region will engage local youth and youth leaders, as well as host events.  This phase of the process will culminate in a Youth Charter of Public Participation and a draft Report on Next Generation Engagement.

The Youth Charter will articulate a vision of public participation and civic responsibility that aligns and mobilizes youth and provides meaningful guidance to institutions and organizations seeking to adjust their practices to engage youth. It will set out the common values, principles and goals that underlie young people's approach to civic engagement; the responsibilities and liberties if confers upon them; the role they expect public organizations to play in supporting youth in public serve, and the role they expect of themselves in this process.

The Report will document and consolidate the overall findings of the deliberative process. This will include lessons learned around strategies, tools and approaches to youth engagement and key youth issues on public service. It will also offer recommendations for public organizations on developing the next generation of leadership; and provide a more in-depth account of the vision set out in the charter and how it can provide guidance to public sector organizations.

Demonstrating Commitment: The Youth Charter and Report will stand as authoritative points of reference for how youth perceive public participation. This final phase will draw on them to move the process from talk to action.  Young leaders and members of the National Public Service Network will use the Charter and Final Report to develop relatively short-term, small scale pilot projects aimed at testing the vision in the Charter. These projects will lay the foundation for future development aimed at bridging the gap between young Canadians' vision of public participation and that of our public institutions and organizations.

Thanks to our National Founding Sponsors: