GOAL
Randwick City Council is developing a Plan of Management and Masterplan for Maroubra Beach to shape the future vision for the area and improve the livability and vitality of the much-loved coastal neighbourhood. Following broad community engagement on the Masterplan, Council identified that the majority of participants were from an older demographic and the local youth voice was missing. As future leaders and the people who will inherit our cities, it is integral that youth voices are heard. In order to fill this gap, Randwick City Council and GroupGSA appointed JOC to conduct youth engagement from May-September 2022. The program sought feedback from local youth to help inform the project and harness their contributions in the master planning process
SOLUTION
Through a series of engagement methods designed to appeal to a younger audience, participants were asked how they currently use the spaces in the area, what they wanted to see in the future and what facilities and programming could support their desired activities. Methods included:
- A highly visual online survey promoted via channels such as Instagram, Facebook and on-site posters at areas frequented by younger people such as the skate park and playground.
- Four student workshops held with local school students with activities including physical voting with your feet, mapping exercises and a future visioning collage exercise that helped to create a consolidated youth vision board for the future of Maroubra Beach
- A pop-up at Council’s popular “Beach Breaks” event where participants were offered free donuts and encouraged to contribute to a chalk ideas board
OUTCOME
In total, 413 young community members, aged between 11-24, shared their ideas for the Maroubra Beach study area. From practical ideas around amenity upgrades to big ideas around design and programming, the insights gathered were hugely valuable to the masterplanning process. JOC produced an Engagement Outcomes report consolidating the findings from the engagement into three key themes, identifying key youth priorities and locations within the precinct young people felt these priorities could be best realised.