Engaging Youth in Planning — with Mara Mintzer

We’re kicking off 2023 with an interview with Mara Mintzer, a co-founder and the Executive Director of Growing Up Boulder, an initiative to engage with city children and youth and offer them opportunities to affect change within their community. In 2017, Mara hosted a TEDx talk on including young people in city planning—which has amassed nearly 2 million views—and she recently co-authored the book, "Placemaking with Children and Youth: Participatory Practices for Planning Sustainable Communities". In this episode, we discuss Mara's mission and inspiration, young people’s natural ability for intuitive and smart city design, and the connection between the inclusion of children in community building with the residents they’ll become in the future as adults."Placemaking with Children and Youth" bookGrowing Up BoulderGUB's Child-Friendly City Map "How kids can help design cities" TEDx talk"The Nature of Cities" documentary trailer