Summits

Summits bring together great people and spark dialogue around important issues. They provide unique opportunities for networking and connection. Youthful Cities’ summits are more than just a conference; they incorporate our Think + Do Lab model to generate ideas and foster change. To make sure great ideas don’t fall through the cracks, summits can be combined with the virtual hackathon model following the conclusion of in-person sessions.

Case Study

The Future of Urban Work — Edmonton 2019

The Future of Work Summit was a one-of-a-kind experience for 60 young leaders across various Canadian cities and work industries who came together and collaborated on a vision of what the future of work can be. It was a unique opportunity to amplify the youth voice on the future of work.

The landscape of work is quickly changing across Canada, and young Canadians are at the apex. Technological, environmental and social change has thought leaders and think tanks around the world putting in overtime trying to figure out what is in store and how societies and organizations must act and react to work. But with all that focus, two critical forces in our quest to understand the future of work are underrepresented – Youth and Urbanization.

Youthful Cities launched the first Urban Work Index in 2019, measuring 21 cities across Canada on their current capacities of urban work from a youth perspective. The index uses an expansive, youth-driven definition for work that includes four thematic areas: Education, Entrepreneurship, Affordability and Employment. The Index was a call for cities to seriously consider how to map out the future of work for youth.

Meet the Delegates

Testimonials

“I feel so inspired and grateful and energized from having spent 4 days with like minded folks who were absolutely visionary within their own fields and being challenged to produce so much in such a short period of time.”

— Participant

“Definitely a memorable experience. What made the summit amazing is the diversity of backgrounds, everyone’s enthusiasm to actually push the limits on ideation, and to be a part of change.”

— Participant

“The summit was very informative and inspiring. The amount of learning that took place, which then translated into creative and meaningful ideas, was incredible. The energy of the participants was very positive.”

— Participant

“It was a great opportunity to meet with my peers and find connections on common values and issues. After it was over, I really felt like I accomplished something and had the potential to go forward with what we planned. “

— Participant

“It was wonderful to meet such an intelligent group of people with such diverse backgrounds. Discussions with people who had different life experience and views were beneficial as seeing the other side of a issue helps grow your own understanding of something. Great personal connections made.”

— Participant

“The Future of Urban Work Summit introduced me to some amazing people from across the country. It allowed me to learn from everyone’s backgrounds and experiences and to begin to create some really cool projects that will shape cities.”

— Participant

The Summit Experience

Analyze

Unpack and analyze the future of urban work, with facilitated session and input from thought leaders on the topic.

Imagine

Co-create scenarios on the future of work through a design-led process. Each scenario will serve as a potential roadmap to how cities can attract and prepare their youth for work.

Activate

Transform the creative scenarios into concrete ideas, recommendations and potential activations for cities to prepare them for the future of work.