What's Up Boulder, 9/10

If you live in Boulder, mark your calendar for the City of Boulder's "What's Up Boulder" event. This informative, interactive and fun event will be held at Foothills Community Park on Sunday, September 10 from 1:00-3:30 pm. There will also be activities at the location of a future park on Violet Avenue, 1/2 mile away. Growing Up Boulder will be at the Violet Avenue site, facilitating nature play and park visioning activities. Meanwhile, our young people from the City's Youth Opportunities Advisory Board (YOAB) and our colleagues from UNICEF USA will be at the Foothills Community Park location sharing information (and gathering input) about Boulder's Child Friendly City Initiative.  Please join us!

Boulder Dreams for Children

On April 29, 2023 Growing Up Boulder, the City of Boulder, and UNICEF USA announced their official partnership towards making Boulder a "UNICEF Child Friendly City Initiative” at the Día del Niño event. UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) is a framework that helps local governments and communities prioritize the needs and voices of young people. 

The Boulder “Dreams for Children” Project was created at the Día del Niño event to showcase the importance of prioritizing youth voice in local decision making. Each child had the opportunity to draw or write their dream for Boulder on a handprint, with the tree symbolizing how individuals can work along side one another to accomplish a collective goal. 

Today, this project lives in the children's area at the Boulder Public Library, and it has received more than 100 new "dreams." We invite even young children to visit and add their dream for a better Boulder!

GUB Executive Director, Mara Mintzer, and GUB Board Member, Mark Davison, presented at the Children and Nature Network conference last month.  Mara gave a TED-style talk about how young children can shape plans for how to connect with nature, and Mark's team presented on Boulder's efforts to equitably connect young children to nature (see the presentation here). 

Many more colleagues from the City of Boulder, GUB, and from elsewhere in the country also attended this conference in nearby Estes Park. We were honored to share our team's work creating meaningful connections between children and the outdoors, while also learning from other inspiring communities.

Police Master Plan Report

 Growing Up Boulder and Mayamotion Healing are pleased to share our report, “Elevating Young People’s Voice for how to ‘Reimagine Policing in Boulder’--Window IV, Part I.” Click here to read it.  Thank you to Amy Long, of Nothing Bundt Cakes, for donating "Bundtlets" to the young people who completed the survey for Window IV, Part II!

Growing Up Boulder's vision is to lead a global movement in child-friendly cities, resulting in more equitable and sustainable communities for all.  Growing Up Boulder's mission is to offer young people opportunities to participate, deliberate, and influence local issues that affect their lives.  ​