Why it’s great to work with the Future Transport Visions Group: A 2023 winner's story

Gemma Bridge and Bernard Fanning’s FTVG Outstanding Project for 2023 was around Engaging Young People in Consultation

Gemma Bridge and Bernard Fanning’s FTVG Outstanding Project for 2023 was around Engaging Young People in Consultation.

Effective consultation with the public helps to ensure that policy and planning consider the needs and wants of the community. However, current public participation in transport planning consultations is limited. The voices of young people (aged 18-25) are particularly lacking.

The project reports present the results of a project that aimed to capture insights from young people and other actors from across the transport planning sector about methods to effectively engage younger people (aged 18- 25) in the development of future transport plans across multiple modes.

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Expressions of Interest for the 2024 - 2025 FTVG competition now open: find out more online: Deadline April 26th 2024

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To support local authorities in developing and delivering a consultation that includes young people, we developed personas to indicate the diversity in the young person population and the range of methods that need to be employed to engage with them. We also produced 10 recommendations to ensure consultations are welcoming for young people and take on board their comments.

The recommendations are:

1.         Utilise social media

2.         Partner with youth organisations

3.         Use interactive and engaging methods such as games, quizzes, and  I interactive tools

4.         Provide incentives

5.         Make consultations accessible (consider the location and time)

6.         Use youth-friendly language

7.         Consider using peer facilitators

8.         Offer online consultations

9.         Host in person consultations in convenient. safe places such as schools, youth centres and at universities.

10.       Follow-up and provide feedback to show how their input has influenced decision- making.

Gemma's advice to future applicants....?

The FVTG is a great initiative to get involved in. The competition offers a fabulous learning experience and is a unique opportunity to work with others that you are unlikely to work with in your normal 'day job'. Whilst it can be challenging to juggle multiple commitments, the FTVG competition is rewarding and well worth the extra effort. We have made some great connections through the competition and have both expanded our networks. Previous projects have produced great results and participants have spoken at conferences in UK and overseas about their successful projects.

How was the support you received from FTVG??

Our mentors were great. We only had a few meetings with them over the course of the project, but they helped guide us in the right direction and were fab sounding boards for our ideas. We both also appreciated having the group feedback sessions during the course of the competition. Not only was it great to see what other groups were doing, and how they were progressing, but it was also really helpful to get feedback from our peers as well as those in the FVTG panel. 

How has your toolkit been used so far?

We have had a lot of great conversations with local authorities, consultation experts and planners about the toolkit and its potential use moving forward. We hosted an online forum in December to improve dissemination and to discuss with others about how we can all work together to improve the engagement of young people in consultations. Susannah Walker (Make Space for Girls) and Professor Janet Dickinson (University of Bournemouth) both took part and the recording is available to view online –new videos will also be posted to the EYPiC YouTube channel.

We aren't done yet, and are excited for the future of the EYPiC toolkit!

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Previous winners of the FVTG initiative include:

Engaging Young People in Consultations (EYPiC)

Gender Equality Toolkit in Transport - GET IT

XT Junction