No Content Set
Exception:
Website.Models.ViewModels.Components.General.Banners.BannerComponentVm

Services

Technical services and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, water, resources, defence and government sectors.

Advisory and management consulting

RPS advisory and management consulting services for businesses and projects, including economics, due diligence, transaction advisory, ESG and more.

Communications, creative and digital

Communications, creative and digital solutions for governments and businesses including community engagement, design, research, data and software development.

Laboratories

Scientific analysis services for AgroScience, food safety, workplace exposure, environmental analysis and contaminants of concern in Europe and the UK.

Planning and approvals

Development strategy, planning and approval solutions for buildings, infrastructure, transport and city projects and investments.

Project and program management

Project management solutions for the most complex building, infrastructure, organisational change, and systems projects.

Training

Specialist training services, programs and accreditation for health, safety and risk, project management, and energy sector capability development.

Sectors

World-leading technical and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, resources, water, defence and government sectors.

Property

Design, technical and advisory services for the property sector, including residential, commercial, retail, industrial, health, education and data centre projects.

Energy

Energy exploration, development and optimisation solutions for renewables, power and gas networks, energy storage, oil and gas and nuclear facilties.

Transport

Smart, safe and sustainable transport infrastructure development services and advice for rail, aviation, port and road clients and projects.

Defence and government services

Expertise for defence capability and infrastructure investments, security and safety projects, and information and telecommunications initatives.

Water

Discover our industry-leading strategy, design and management solutions for wastewater, groundwater, flooding, drainage and network infrastructure.

Resources

Commercial data, design advice and technical management solutions for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and operations.

About us

Responsibility

Services

Technical services and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, water, resources, defence and government sectors.

explore Services
Advisory and management consulting by RPS

RPS advisory and management consulting services for businesses and projects, including economics, due diligence, transaction advisory, ESG and more.

Due diligence

Economics

Strategy and transformation

Commercial advisory

Transaction advisory

Project investment and finance

ESG consulting

Deal advisory

Explore Advisory and management consulting
Communications, creative and digital

Communications, creative and digital solutions for governments and businesses including community engagement, design, research, data and software development.

Communications and engagement

Creative, visualisation and immersive design

Social advisory and research

Data management, analytics and insights

Spatial intelligence and GIS

Software development

Explore Communications, creative and digital
Design and development

Technical and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure and cities including architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape architecture and urban design.

Architecture

Lifts and escalators

Building services engineering

Civil engineering

Fire engineering

Geotechnical engineering

Landscape architecture

Structural engineering

Surveying

Utility options and design

Urban design

Explore Design and development
Laboratories

Scientific analysis services for AgroScience, food safety, workplace exposure, environmental analysis and contaminants of concern in Europe and the UK.

AgroScience analysis

Food safety analysis

PFAS Analysis

Environmental analysis

Analysis of unknowns

Workplace exposure analysis

Explore Laboratories
Planning and approvals

Development strategy, planning and approval solutions for buildings, infrastructure, transport and city projects and investments.

Planning consultancy

Transport planning

Explore Planning and approvals
Project and program management

Project management solutions for the most complex building, infrastructure, organisational change, and systems projects.

Program management

Project management

Cost management / quantity surveying

Building consultancy

Explore Project and program management
Training

Specialist training services, programs and accreditation for health, safety and risk, project management, and energy sector capability development.

Health, safety and risk

Training: project management

Capability development and training for the energy sector

Explore Training

Sectors

World-leading technical and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, resources, water, defence and government sectors.

explore Sectors
Property

Design, technical and advisory services for the property sector, including residential, commercial, retail, industrial, health, education and data centre projects.

Residential

Commercial and retail

Leisure and tourism

Industrial

Health and healthcare

Education

Data centres

Explore Property
Energy

Energy exploration, development and optimisation solutions for renewables, power and gas networks, energy storage, oil and gas and nuclear facilties.

Oil and gas

Renewables

Nuclear facilities

Power and gas networks

Storage

Explore Energy
Transport

Smart, safe and sustainable transport infrastructure development services and advice for rail, aviation, port and road clients and projects.

Rail

Aviation

Ports

Roads

Explore Transport
Defence and government services

Expertise for defence capability and infrastructure investments, security and safety projects, and information and telecommunications initatives.

Defence

Security and safety

Information and telecommunications

Explore Defence and government services
Water

Discover our industry-leading strategy, design and management solutions for wastewater, groundwater, flooding, drainage and network infrastructure.

Water management

Wastewater

Flooding and drainage

Groundwater

UK and Ireland regulated water asset management

Explore Water
Resources

Commercial data, design advice and technical management solutions for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and operations.

Mining

Waste

Explore Resources

Projects

We define, design and manage projects that create shared value to a complex, urbanising and resource-scarce world.

explore Projects

Brilliant minds finding solutions to complex problems, made easy to understand. Making complex easy.

Brilliant minds finding solutions to complex problems, made easy to understand. Making complex easy.

explore Insights

More is more when engaging young people

It is often thought that young people don’t participate in engagement processes because they ‘just don’t care’. 

02 September 2022
Nicola Wass

Australia

ON THIS PAGE
Contact us

It’s a common misconception that allows project teams to think of young people as ‘hard-to-reach’ when in fact they have been unable to attract them to participate in their generic ‘one-size-fits-all’ engagement. The truth is that young people are just very ‘easy-to-ignore’.

A more considered approach is needed

Taking active steps to ensure the participation of younger people needs to be the focus, particularly for major infrastructure projects or strategic land use processes.

The engagement paradox here is that while young people will be living with the outcomes of these projects for longer than others in the community, their values, priorities and concerns are not heard or considered.

Our research into youth participation and our on-the-ground youth engagement experience have clearly demonstrated that young people are interested in being involved and are strongly committed to making a difference for their communities. They just aren’t attracted to generic processes that don’t ‘speak’ to them.

So, what should we be doing to appeal to young people and attract their participation in engagement?

TasNetworks youth panel participant, Name badge says 'Steph' and wearing clear acetate glasses. Looking away from camera and speaking.

Developing more tailored opportunities

Young people do care about what is happening in their community, so providing genuine and robust engagement that allows them to influence the decisions that affect them and their communities is really appealing. Other critical success factors for engaging with young people that we have successfully applied include:

Fair recognition of their time 

Young people value their time and providing a stipend that is commensurate with the level of the time commitment being asked is necessary to attract them. Unlike older community members, younger people are reluctant to even complete a short survey without some form of incentive.

Meeting and working with other young people

Young people are interested in other young people so youth-specific opportunities – where they will meet and hear from other young people in a comfortable and welcoming environment – are far more appealing than a generic process where they will be mixing with participants from a broader range of ages and their views are often overlooked.

Capability and skills development 

Young people are future-focused and motivated by opportunities that will build their skills and improve their capabilities. Opportunities they can put onto their CVs and that provide formal acknowledgment of their participation and the skills they have developed through their participation are also highly valued, as is having direct access to professionals and opportunities for industry networking.

Active, tailored recruitment

More is definitely more when recruiting young participants. Reaching young people requires a considered and multi-channel recruitment approach that utilises existing and trusted networks, demographic, geo-targeted and tailored social media promotion, and random recruitment. Inviting stakeholders with youth networks to nominate future leaders and other youth participants to be involved also ensures a more successful recruitment process.

A focus on purpose

As a Youth Panel I recently convened to co-design a community benefits sharing framework for TasNetworks demonstrates, engaging with purpose is critical for young people.  To successfully recruit, and importantly to retain our young participants (they were between 18 to 25 years old), we:

  • Created a co-design process that allowed them to significantly influence the framework for the community benefits sharing program (CBSP) and guided them to work together as a group. This allowed them to overcome the challenges of developing the framework for the CBSP and to explore how to come to consensus on the various elements of the framework.

  • Supported equitable participation by reducing barriers that can often affect young people. This included providing support with transport to face-to-face meetings and IT equipment for online sessions, as well as developing meeting processes that were cognisant of the diverse needs of participants, including those of our participants who are living with a disability.

  • Provided formal recognition of their participation to support their employment aspirations, as well as ongoing capacity and skills building, such as public speaking, media training and networking opportunities. This has ensured that participants can continue to improve the skills and capabilities they developed through their participation in the Youth Panel.

More is more when engaging young people and taking a considered and tailored engagement approach is essential when designing best practice engagement. This does take time and resources but the benefits provided by engaged, knowledgeable, and committed young people are well worth it.

Youth Panel North West Transmission Developments

Hear directly from our Youth Panel members and see their commitment and passion for yourself.