Paul Peteru

Youth Participation with Local Councils in the Auckland Region: a Snapshot of Officer Reflections Paul Peteru

In his role as project manager of the Auckland Regional Child and Youth Engagement Project the author interviewed officers of the seven cities and district councils in the Auckland region who had a child and youth focus. The author examined the drivers for youth participation from a local government perspective to consider whether youth participation was being carried out with integrity. Officers utilised a rare opportunity to share their experiences about engaging youth to participate in Council initiatives. The author sought to find out who benefitted most from youth participation. The author interviewed adults as opposed to youth contrasting the tried goldfish bowl analogy where youth are studied, interrogated and arguably objectified to find out their views. The book raises questions for youth development practitioners and those seeking to engage youth about whether participation by youth is ideological as opposed to practical. Are youth critically aware of their roles when being engaged; do they contribute to decision making in planning? Youth participation with local councils in the end might be nothing more than an ideal