Drawing the ideas of 100 school students at Bankstown Youth Summit

Posted by Guy Downes on August 3, 2010 under Graphic Recording | Be the First to Comment

Graphic recording at community events with school students is one of the most rewarding environments I get to work in. Being able to ‘draw their ideas’ is fantastic as students always have something to say and they say it with energy, passion and enthusiasm.

I recently put my graphic recording skills to paper at the Bankstown Youth Summit where more than than 100 local young people met at the Town Hall to discuss ideas for the city’s future.

With almost 20 per cent of the local community aged between 12 and 24 years old, getting their views and voices heard is very important. By capturing all the ideas and key themes in colourful, large scale posters with a mixture of pictures, icons and words, my graphic recording was used to make sure ‘voices were heard’ and allowed the ideas to live on well after the event. In terms of return-on-investment, the Council has since been using my graphic recording posters to support their planning process for the Bankstown Community Plan.

My skills were also used to create poster templates that the students could populate with ideas and thoughts during breakout sessions and workshops during the day.

The ‘Youth Summit’ was organised by Bankstown City Council in collaboration with Straight Talk (a leading community engagement and strategic communications consultancy) as part of community consultation on the new Bankstown Community Plan. Bankstown City Council will be using the Plan as a long-term strategy document to guide the growth and development of the city.