Youth Perspectives on Community Wellbeing, Environment, and Future Planning

Abstract

This report summarizes findings from a youth-centered community engagement process conducted through the UVA Innovation Hub at Charlottesville Middle School in partnership with the Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Virginia and the Community Climate Collaborative (C3). The analysis examined 162 student engagement units, including 101 reflection cards and 61 project reflections collected during public engagement activities held in May 2026. Using a mixed-methods thematic coding approach, student responses were analyzed to identify recurring themes, systems-level connections, community priorities, and solution-oriented thinking related to community wellbeing, environmental quality, transportation, recreation, housing, safety, and future planning. Findings revealed that youth consistently viewed community challenges and opportunities as interconnected systems rather than isolated issues. The most frequently occurring themes included community connection and belonging, safety and comfort, environmental cleanliness and stewardship, recreation and public space, and transportation and mobility. Students demonstrated strong systems-thinking skills, frequently linking cleaner environments to safer communities, transportation access to opportunity, recreation to mental wellbeing, and public spaces to belonging and social connection. Although students rarely used technical climate terminology such as “decarbonization” or “climate adaptation,” climate-related concerns emerged organically through discussions of neighborhood conditions, transportation, recreation, housing, comfort, pollution, and environmental wellbeing. These findings suggest that young people primarily understand environmental and climate-related issues through lived experience and quality-of-life concerns rather than through technical policy language. The results highlight the value of youth-centered, interdisciplinary engagement models and suggest that future community planning, sustainability, and climate engagement efforts may be more effective when framed around everyday experiences, community wellbeing, and practical neighborhood improvements. The findings further demonstrate that youth are not only stakeholders in future planning but also current community experts whose perspectives can contribute meaningfully to discussions of community development, environmental stewardship, and public policy.

Keywords: Youth Voice; Community Wellbeing; Climate Engagement; Environmental Quality; Community Planning; Systems Thinking; Public Participation; Sustainability; Community Partnerships; Transportation; Public Space; Youth Engagement; Community Climate Collaborative; Innovation Hub; Charlottesville Middle School