Young people surprise with big response to future Auckland campaign

A postcard campaign encouraging children and young people to give feedback on how they would like to see Auckland develop in the future attracted over 4800 responses from across the region.

The campaign asked for responses to three statements:
“Putting me first means….”
“Actions that will help me be the best I can be are…”
“The best thing about Auckland is...”

Respondents aged from 5 to 25 representing 124 ethnicities answered the call to help create an Auckland that puts children and young people first.

A total of 17,000 postcards were distributed via 37 youth organisations, and 60 workshops and face to face meetings and engagement with rangatahi Māori (Māori youth), organised by eight staff from across the council.

“In the age of Twitter, Facebook and You Tube it was revealing that written responses on a postage-paid post card triumphed over the internet with only 138 online responses compared to 4795 postcards,” said Catherine Fitzsimons, a policy analyst with the community and cultural strategy unit, who led the project with colleague Rangimarie Mules.

Suggestions made by young people included:

• We want our voice to be heard, listened to and our ideas acted upon
• Care for us and our families
• We want to feel safe and cared about
• We’d like to have a sense of belonging to Auckland

The feedback was presented to the Future Vision Committee as part of an update on submissions to Auckland Unleashed proposals for the Auckland Plan, which will provide strategic guidance to the growth and development of the region over the next 20-30 years.