Community Mapping Guide: A Youth Community Mapping Toolkit for East Africa

This manual is written for people wanting to engage youth in community-based planning. There is growing recognition that asset mapping can be a powerful tool for change, prompting youth to view their communities from an assets-based perspective and becoming advocates for the transformation of the spaces they live in. Researchers have found that engaging youth in planning raises youth’s self-esteem, fosters a sense of environmental and community responsibility, and facilitates them to become more civically minded. Research has also demonstrated that engaging youth in planning is not only good for the youth themselves, but for their communities as well through supporting youth as advocates for positive change. This manual will provide planners, youth workers, and volunteers with all of the tools they will need to train youth and initiate asset mapping projects.