Young Gamechangers Initiative
The YGI is a 3-year Programme focusing on intermediary cities in Senegal, India, and Colombia to improve the urban health and well-being of young people through their active engagement in urban governance, design of inclusive public space and digital engagement.
The city of Jatni in Odisha was selected through an open call for the implementation of YGI in India in which Jatni and Puri were shortlisted.
The challenges
Cities are not providing enough open spaces and parks to respond to the needs of the local residents and communities.
WHO emphasizes the importance of urban green space investment for citizens' well-being. By using a morecomprehensive strategy for spatial planning, planners can encourage the development of healthy urban settings. By fostering social cohesion and giving citizens more control over their health and well-being, public spaces can solve a variety of urban challenges.
Young people are often excluded from participation in decision-making processes:
Over 1.3 billion young people aged 15-24 are excluded from decision-making processes, leading to their social and political marginalization. Lack of platforms and opportunities for youth to voice opinions and contribute to urban governance, hinders their effective participation and their ability to contribute to inclusive urban development.
Young people are not equipped with digital skills for livelihood opportunities:
Digital skills enable youth's digital civic engagement, but limited technology limits their participation in decision-making. Acquiring digital skills offers employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, contributing to an inclusive digital economy and society.
For Ex - Public spaces exercise, Jatni, Oct 2023
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How to respond to them?
Strengthening governance frameworks to advance health and well-being of young people:
YGI will leverage UN-Habitat's youth and governance experiences to enhance participation and engagement between young people and local governments. Eight studios will be established, involving public space assessments, participatory design, tactical placemaking, urban governance, and a digital democracy participation platform.
Empowering young people with voice and agency and equip them with the right digital skills to engage in governance:
UN-Habitat's Block by Block program demonstrates Minecraft's effectiveness in co-creating urban designs and enhancing digital skills. This project involves young people in digital public space assessment, design, and governance, fostering crucial digital skills in mapping, design, digital democracy, and public participation, preparing them for the 21st-century job market.
Supporting local authorities to deliver public spaces that are safe, accessible and that promote health and well-being for young people:
YGI aims to promote good health and well-being for young people by ensuring inclusive, accessible, and safe public spaces. It builds on UN-Habitat's Global Public Space Programme, which has improved public spaces for millions globally through tools like site-specific assessments, city-wide assessments, design studios, HerCity and Block by Block.
What have we achieved so far?
Community engagement for co-designing:
The UN-Habitat team has conducted orientation meetings amongst the Self-Help Groups in Jatni to brief them about YGI and have also visited the Biju Adarsh Colonies there to understand the youth-specific context. The meeting will be one among series of such meetings to co-design and co-create solutions with local communities.
In-depth assessment of the youth ecosystem in Jatni:
The study aims to evaluate the city's youth ecosystem, including its health, well-being, digital agency, governance processes, and related issues affecting young people's lives. The project will select youth gamechangers and youth-led groups to engage, discuss, and provide feedback, acting as a bridge between the lab's administration and users.
Setting up Young Gamechangers Lab
A YGI lab will be established in the city with the requisite learning infrastructure that will serve the learning and skilling objectives of the project. The project will select youth gamechangers and youth-led groups to engage, discuss, and provide feedback, acting as a bridge between the lab's administration and users.
Engage young people in co-working studios
YGI plans to host weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly digital engagement, co-creation, and learning studios, aiming to serve as a hub for young people's talent development, innovation, and creativity, enabling virtual connections and access to shared materials.
Document evidence through research
The research aims to enhance understanding of young people's involvement in public space governance and digital participation. It will establish a research framework and indicators to gauge the impact of digital participation and public space intervention on young people's health and well-being, with UN-Habitat's Evidence to Action team following their journey.
Donors and Partners
This programme is funded with the support of Fondation Botnar. The project is led by UN-Habitat in collaboration with Block by Block Foundation, the Government of Odisha and Jatni Municipality and is being implemented with a range of private and public partners including the World Health Organization (WHO), Eva Studios, Microsoft and local youth-led organizations to create a scalable template that can produce young gamechangers across the country.
