Cultivating Global Citizens Prepared to Tackle Climate Change Through the Y-PLAN (Youth — Plan, Learn, Act, Now) Civic Learning Methodology

• In Event: On the Ground Responses to the Anthropocene Context: Civic and STEM Engagement as Global Citizenship

Abstract

The Y-PLAN (Youth - Plan, Learn, Act, Now) civic learning methodology engages K-12 public school students in urban planning and social change projects in cities across California and globe. As climate change becomes an ever-increasing priority and challenge for all cities (Pelling et al 2015), it is ever more critical to engage youth in the planning for resilient cities. The objectives of this poster will be: (1) present the interdisciplinary theoretical framework driving the Y-PLAN methodology; (2) share three best practice models of Y-PLAN in New York City, Tohoku Japan and the San Francisco Bay Area; and (3) identify areas of further research needed to deepen and unpack the impact of the Y-PLAN methodology on preparing young people for global citizenship through civic learning experiences.

Y-PLAN is grounded in “Communities of Practice” (CoP), a critical social theory that bridges the fields of education and city planning (McKoy and Vincent 2004). As defined by Etienne Wenger, “communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.” The concept of a CoP relies upon the notion that learning is human nature, it is innately social and participatory, and that education must engage learning communities to reach a larger impact. By building “complex social relationships” between city planners and young people, around “meaningful activities” like planning a more resilient city, with “genuine practices” such as surveying and interviewing local residents and studying global best practices, that work becomes a shared directive, “the enterprise of a community,” that elicits the best abilities of each member to improve the final better product together, to the benefit of everyone .

Y-PLAN action research utilizes a largely qualitative, case study approach and modes of inquiry.

Two years of case study data will be shared in this poster session offering evidence of impacting both individual students and civic leaders and community partners they work with.

Over the past two decades, more than 10,000 K-12 students have partnered with civic and academic leaders to conduct Y-PLAN projects impacting our cities. Our case study documentation provides evidence of change and academic learning among students and civic partners generating both improved academic and civic outcomes for students and increased insights among civic leaders.
As young people develop their own sense of global citizenship through the Y-PLAN process, we have seen young people defy the existence of boundaries to problems and solutions. For example, in conversations about the environment and creating resilient cities necessary to combat climate change, young people refuse to be put in a box. While adults examine resilience in response to climate change impacts, such as sea level rise and climate change, Y-PLAN action research overwhelmingly demonstrates that young people have an innate understanding of resilience. As young people develop and embody an enhanced definition of global citizenship through Y-PLAN projects, it is essential to unpack, analyze and document these insights and outcomes for future research and policy.

Authors

• Deborah McKoy, University of California - Berkeley

• Amanda Eppley, University of California - Berkeley