An exhibit at the National Building Museum showcases the work of teens in city planning and design. It's just one recent example of innovative programs to get youth involved in the process of engaging with their communities.
"The high schoolers behind Investigating Where We Live: New Monuments Revealed, hailing from Maryland, Virginia, and DC, participated in a five-week summer program designed to teach them about, well, design," according to an article by Micheal Bochnovic. "Throughout, they learned how to create clear and effective images for plans, drafted changes to one of DC's traffic circles, and soaked up knowledge from experts from all over the planning field."
After detailing the IWWL program, which hosted the exhibition at the National Building Museum, as well as it results, Bochnovic goes on to list several other examples of programs that help young people learn planning and urban design by doing:
- "The Building Museum runs other planning and architecture programs for youth like CityVision, which teaches students how to help shape their communities through design and talking to people in their communities."
- "The Washington Architectural Foundation runs the Architecture in the Schools program that connects working architects with classrooms to teach construction concepts."
- "Even gardens in DC public schools are a big deal in that they are providing real opportunities for youth to get their hands dirty and participate in urban agriculture, which is something that some of the leading urban planners in the world are putting lots of thought into."
FULL STORY: Here's how DC's youth are getting involved in urban planning
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