Behind every plate we eat, there is a long story of access, sustainability, and inequality. In a complex yet interconnected food system, Pamflet clearly sees how youth participation is not yet meaningful. Young people who are going through this transitional period carry a certain temporal vulnerability. Starting out as children whose diets were determined by their parents, to becoming young people who can choose for themselves what they would like to eat according to their taste and nutritional needs. From previously only buying food, now they can be involved in the food production process.
For young people, being involved in discussions about the food system is an effort to become involved in making decisions that will affect their livelihoods. Therefore, it is important to provide the right access so that their participation is not just a decoration or tokenized.
This Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Participation Integration Pocket Book came about with the trust given by the Urban Futures Indonesia team of Pamflet to lead the Simpul Pangan consortium. All the materials and checklists that we present in this document have been submitted to all Urban Futures Indonesia implementing organizations at the Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Participation training in July 2024.
The meeting space between adults and young people who support the Urban Futures Indonesia program was a medium for intellectual and emotional journeys that encourage intergenerational discussions. Pamflet Generasi Team, in collaboration with the authors and facilitators, summarized several findings that took place during the discussions. This mapping of the conditions and challenges of youth participation in the food system concluded with bountiful observation results that may nourish the Urban Futures’ implementation team in carrying out their program.
Lastly, we provide a checklist recommendation for mainstreaming meaningful and inclusive Youth Participation in the program, as well as the integration of youth-adult partnership values in the organization. This checklist is expected to be a self-assessment tool used by organizations to continuously evaluate and design youth-centered activities.
The journey of Pamflet to continue to encourage youth participation in the discourse of sustainable food systems has just begun. Hopefully, the knowledge and information we share in this document can inspire readers to encourage their organizations to involve the youth.
Meaningful-and-Inclusive-Youth-Participation-MIYP-Pocket-Book.pdf (16 downloads )
