Youthful Cities
Robert Barnard has a diverse work experience spanning several decades. Robert co-founded YouthfulCities in 2012, where they focused on the role of youth in urbanization. In 2020, they also took on the position of Executive Director for Pivot 2020 - good work*, changing cities. Robert has been a Fellow at Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue since April 2020. In 1994, they founded and served as the CEO, Co-founder, and President of decode, a global strategic consultancy that focuses on youth-related challenges. Prior to that, they founded Generation 2000 in 1991.
Robert Barnard attended Leaside High School from 1981 to 1985, and subsequently graduated from Western University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Social Science degree in Geography.
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Youthful Cities
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Youthful Cities is leading a unique urban regeneration. We are building global youth (15-29 years old) networks. We are going deep into youth-driven urban knowledge. We are generating inventive solutions from youth outward. And, we are illuminating youthful stories. Youth are at the center of urbanization. They build a city’s competitive edge, stimulate development and find new solutions. They are connectors. They are curious. They are inventive. They are dynamic. They are the future of cities. In 2012 we discovered two amazing stats that set our social venture in motion: 50 per cent of the world's population is under 30 years of age and 50 per cent of the world's population now live in cities. The future of the world will be determined by the progression of urbanization as it is molded by youth. While this provides strong motivation for cities to maximize the potential of youth, their opinions are often unrecognized. There are countless indexes and rankings of cities, but none with a youth perspective. Until now. We decided to find out what would happen if we were able to inspire and engage thousands of young people to re-imagine the places where they live, work and play. YouthfulCities was born! We believe youth are good for cities and cities are good for youth. Every day we bring this belief to life by illuminating and decoding the global power of urban youthfulness. By building youth networks and diving into youth-driven urban data. By exposing insights that captivate leaders across all generations and sectors. And by generating inventive solutions from youth outward. Each year with the help our booming Urban Decoder Network we: Survey youth through the YouthfulCities Urban Attitudes Survey. Gauging opinions of 10s of thousands of youth (15-29 year olds) globally Rank cities through the YouthfulCities Index – now ranking 50+ cities around the globe. Gather young innovators and influencers at the YouthfulCities Global Summit