The Laidlaw Foundation believes that socially engaged youth are cornerstones of a healthy democracy. The Foundation uses its resources to strengthen civic engagement and social cohesion . A healthy democracy needs its youth to know the rights and duties of citizenship. These rights and duties are called civics . When youth act on their knowledge of civics and work to improve their communities, we say that they are socially engaged .
Many youth face barriers to becoming socially engaged.
The Programme will support initiatives that contribute to building a knowledge base and best practices for meaningful youth engagement. Related Activities Network Building - The Foundation will host grantee learning circles and an annual forum to increase knowledge sharing, ideas and strategies for effective youth programming. Building a Youth Engagement Knowledge Base - A study was undertaken to look at existing youth engagement practices in recreation and other community settings. The project explored current research and practices in youth engagement in governance and decision-making. Youth participation and engagement models were analysed.