We're honored to receive a Bay Area Metro Award for our work with Resilient by Design bringing young people's ideas into a regional climate resilience challenge. The new joint MTC and ABAG awards program honors positive impacts on the Bay Area’s mobility, affordability, resilience and community and recognizes efforts that make the region a better place to live, work and play.

Earlier this week, one of our awesome CP190 mentors Hugo Camacho pointed to Y-PLAN as integral to his Ed Minor experience during his commencement speech.

Y-PLAN student scholars have been making headlines this year! From affordable housing to addressing the future of schools, Y-PLAN Bay Area students garnered attention for their innovative ideas!

CC+S's 2019 Y-PLAN Policy Summit: Planning for a More Inclusive and Resilient Region brought together over 150 Y-PLAN scholars from around the Bay Area to present their research and proposals for greater equity across our region both now and in the future to over 80 community and civic partners. here.

This year, San Francisco students are informing two different city and regional planning agencies. The San Francisco Planning Department has committed to a long-term partnership with the Center for Cities + Schools to increase the voice of young people in citywide planning processes and policies. Meanwhile, San Francisco is also represented in our regional project with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Association of Bay Area Governments preparing for the schools of 2050. Read on to learn more.

Elena Moore, a current sophomore at Swarthmore College, completed an externship with us in January. Supported by Swarthmore alum and our Assistant Director Mandy Eppley, Elena interviewed CC+S/Y-PLAN staff on the impact of last year's Y-PLAN Resilient by Design Youth Challenge - read on to learn more!

This year, CC+S entered into an exciting partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Association of Bay Area Governments (MTC/ABAG) to generate youth insights, recommendations, and proposals to inform the Horizon initiative.

“I believe that the Future Center could be like a foundation for our growth [...] we need people to help us, to be patient, and to see us grow.”  - Peter Diaz, McClymonds High School, Senior

What role does food play in urban communities? Why do some residents have more easy access to healthy, fresh food than others? What are the best strategies for Richmond to ensure its residents have access to healthy food? Richmond High School Health Academy Y-PLAN students explored these questions and more while designing proposals to revitalize Downtown Richmond and provide more jobs by improving access to and information about farm fresh foods for everyone.

Y-PLAN is not only an acronym, Youth - Plan, Learn, Act, Now!, it is also a pun. Why plan? At its core, Y-PLAN guides students through the process of digging deeper into the questions of why. Why do we plan? Why are conditions the way they are in one part of the city and not another. Why not vision and plan for a more equitable future? One of the first activities that introduces students to these questions is mind mapping.