Youth-Friendly Communities: Engaging Youth in Assessment and Planning to Improve their Community Environments

The Youth-Friendly Communities (YFC) project (2024-2026) works with young people aged 12-18 years from around New York State in the evaluation of the ‘youth-friendliness’ of their community outdoor spaces, and then works with them to envision and communicate changes they would like to see through the development of Youth Action Plans and supportive communication materials. Working with 4H Educators in various counties throughout NYS, the YFC team carries out 2 to 3 workshops with local youth to help them identify changes they would like to see to their local outdoor spaces. Workshops then help youth to develop their visions for these changes, and create tools (such as models, design plans, story maps, etc.) to help them communicate their visions to local decision-makers and advocate for the changes they would like to see. Surveys and activities within the workshops also help the team to understand what youth need and value in their communities to support their preferred activities and healthy development. The project also aims to use these workshops to develop and refine a full toolkit and training materials for 4H Educators to be able to initiate YFC projects on their own with local youth.

Roles and responsibilities 

• Supporting the development of materials, activities and/or processes for Youth Workshops
• Helping to facilitate Youth Workshops on-site at different locations within NYS
• Liaise with 4H Educators in participating counties to help set up workshop logistics, agendas, materials, etc.
• Conducting quantitative and/or qualitative analyses of outputs from workshops; preparing lay reports or contributing to academic reports
• Helping to refine workshop activities, tools and processes as well as prepare training materials for 4H Educators working with youth

Qualifications and previous coursework

This opportunity is available to students in Cornell University's College of Human Ecology.

• Coursework in Research Methods and Human Development
• Interns will need to be comfortable presenting in public and working with youth
• Experience working with youth and/or community groups a significant asset
• Experience with quantitative and/or qualitative research, program or workshop development, or preparation of communication materials would also be valued
• The selected intern will be may be required to drive on behalf of the summer project and will need to have reliable transportation

Learning outcomes 

• Gaining an understanding of the community experiences and needs for youth development
• Experience developing and refining engagement activities, tools and processes
• Experience conducting data analyses, as well as synthesizing and communicating research findings
• Gaining experience developing and disseminating effective programming and training materials for community educators and leaders
• Improved understanding of youth-engaged research and Participatory Action Research