On May 28th through June 2nd, a mini-conference of young planners from across the US convened, as a part of the 2007 Planners Network Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. These fifteen youth planners and their adult allies came from Brooklyn, NY, Bay Area, California and New Orleans, LA. They spent five days getting to know each other, learning about New Orleans, participating in urban planning activities – including a survey for the City of New Orleans and GIS lesson at UNO – and facilitating a participatory workshop at the Planners Network Conference entitled, “Youth Participation in Planning – Where do we Go from Here?”
This mini-conference marked the beginning of the Young Planners Network (YPN), a group of Young Planners and Adult Allies working together to support authentic youth participation in the field of planning. As a result of their hard work and talent, the youth were invited to join the Planners Network, with designated representation on the Steering Committee!
Our last conference, entitled PLANet YOUTH: NYC 2008 Celebrating Youth Leadership in Planning, took place from April 3-6, 2008. Please visit http://www.youngplannersnetwork.org for more information.
For more information or to get involved with the YPN, please email us at info(at)youngplannersnetwork(dot)org.