Youth Participation with Local Councils in the Auckland Region

In his role as project manager of the Auckland Regional Childand Youth Engagement Project the author interviewed officers of theseven cities and district councils in the Auckland region who had achild and youth focus. The author examined the drivers for youthparticipation from a local government perspective to considerwhether youth participation was being carried out with integrity.Officers utilised a rare opportunity to share their experiencesabout engaging youth to participate in Council initiatives. Theauthor sought to find out who benefitted most from youthparticipation. The author interviewed adults as opposed to youthcontrasting the tried goldfish bowl analogy where youth arestudied, interrogated and arguably objectified to find out theirviews. The book raises questions for youth developmentpractitioners and those seeking to engage youth about whetherparticipation by youth is ideological as opposed to practical. Areyouth critically aware of their roles when being engaged; dotheycontribute to decision making in planning? Youth participation withlocal councils in the end might be nothing more than anideal