Youth Voice: Exploring Models of Participation

Strengthen your approach to youth engagement by putting young people at the heart of your work.

This practical self-guided course supports anyone working in creative, cultural, heritage or community contexts to meaningfully involve young people in shaping projects, programmes and decision-making.

You’ll explore trusted participation frameworks like Hart’s Ladder, Treseder’s Degrees of Participation, and the Lundy Model, and reflect on how to apply them in your own work. The course also introduces Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and how it underpins ethical and legal responsibilities around youth voice.

Whether you're designing exhibitions, running events, delivering creative workshops, or leading youth engagement, this course helps you embed more inclusive and empowering practice from the ground up.

Course Information

Youth Voice: Exploring Models of Participation builds on the foundations set out in Youth Voice: An Introduction, and is ideal for those who want to take the next step. It introduces established participatory models and supports you to create projects with young people, not just for them.

You’ll explore how to:

• Understand the difference between genuine participation and tokenism
• Apply models like Hart’s Ladder, the Lundy Model, and Treseder’s Degrees of Participation
• Use Article 12 of the UNCRC to frame your legal and ethical responsibilities
• Create safe, inclusive spaces for young people to contribute meaningfully
• Embed youth voice at every stage: from planning and delivery to evaluation

Why It Matters:

Young people are not just future audiences - they are creative leaders, cultural changemakers, and vital contributors to the world around them. But without the tools and understanding to genuinely involve them, organisations risk missing out on the innovation, relevance, and impact that youth voice brings.

This course helps you build confidence and clarity around participation so that young people feel heard, valued, and part of something meaningful.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:

• Assess how youth voice currently features in your work
• Recognise when participation is meaningful and when it’s superficial
• Plan more collaborative, youth-centred approaches
• Apply trusted models and frameworks to shape your projects and team

Who this course is for:

• Organisations developing programmes for or with young people
• Freelance practitioners, artists and educators working in participatory settings
• Community or learning teams at museums, galleries, libraries or venues
• Anyone looking to build confidence in embedding youth voice

This course works brilliantly alongside Youth Voice: An Introduction. While the Introduction course helps you understand the why, this one focuses on the how, making them an ideal pair for individual learning or team-wide CPDL.

Pricing options:

1 years access for £35

18 months access for £49

This course is brought to you by the expert trainers at Artswork Professional Development, who are proud to share their decades of experience of personal and professional development within the creative, cultural and heritage sectors.