Zoom in to Youth Voice
Event description
![](https://network.youthmusic.org.uk/sites/default/files/styles/body_image/public/op3_1.jpg?itok=nTqkMxCj)
During these challenging times, we’ve all been doing what we can to engage young people with creative activities online. But have we asked young people themselves what they need and want?
Youth voice is about consulting and listening to young people about their needs and experiences – and using what they tell us to shape the creative opportunities they access. Whether it’s through co-production, consultation or with young trustees, youth voice improves our services and makes them more inclusive. This is especially important during the COVID pandemic, as young people are feeling disconnected and we can’t reach them in the usual ways.
Join us for the first ‘zoom-in’ to explore how Youth Voice can help you to navigate the crisis and improve your offer to young people.
This online session is for you if you or your team are working with young people to shape their own creative experiences. You could be working in arts and culture, youth work, schools, health and wellbeing, or any other setting that supports young people. You might be a project or programme manager, producer, comms manager, practitioner, educator or youth worker.
By the end of this session you will:
- Understand the principles and key challenges of doing Youth Voice online;
- Have received tips and advice to help you decide what’s possible and how you can meet your youth voice aims, including co-production, youth consultation and youth governance;
- Have heard examples and perspectives from youth voice experts and practitioners;
- Feel more confident about consulting and listening to young people during and after the crisis.
About the session and guests
The session will be facilitated by Lawrence Becko, Sound Connections’ Associate Project Lead for Youth Voice & Participation, with contributions from members of the Sound Connections team and special guests from Wired4Music. The session will cover the following:
- Welcome and introductions
- Context and explainer
- Youth voice: is now the time?
- Doing youth voice online – with guest experts from the Wired4Music team
- Screen break
- Staying connected with young trustees
- Longer term strategies
- Closing thoughts and next steps
We’ll hear from Liz Coomb (Programme Manager), Jasmine Kambi (Wired4Music Producer) and Esther Bokuma Lenda (Sound Connections Trustee and Wired4Music Young Leader) about their recent experiences of taking Youth Voice online. They will share practical tips with you on co-production and staying connected during the crisis.
If you are working with young trustees or thinking about inviting young people onto your board, you’ll want to stay tuned for our conversation with Sound Connections Deputy Director Jennifer Raven who will take us through the pros and cons of youth governance online, and share thoughts on how we can use this time to plan for a longer term youth voice strategy.
There will be space within the session to ask questions via the chat function and by interacting with the facilitators. You will receive a specially-tailored resource pack. There is no charge but places are limited so please sign up today.
We look forward to meeting you!