NATIONAL ARTS PUBLICATION DATABASE (NAPD)
Creative Youth Development Landscape Analysis: Policy and Advocacy

Author: Ed Spitzberg

Publication Year:

Media Type: Report

Summary:

The Creative Youth Development Landscape Analysis on Policy and Advocacy reviews literature and existing best practices on advocacy and funding across the intersecting fields of arts education, youth development, and nonprofit and civic engagement organizations, and recommendations on how they can be applied to the creative youth development field.

Abstract:

Americans for the Arts, as a founding member of the Creative Youth Development National Partnership (a coalition working to advance the field of creative youth development [CYD] as the intentional integration of arts learning and youth development principles), commissioned field experts to produce a set of seven landscape analyses about key topics within youth development. These papers identify trends in creative youth development, share recommendations for CYD practitioners, and suggest areas for future exploration.

The Policy and Advocacy Landscape Analysis reviews literature and existing best practices on advocacy and funding across the intersecting fields of arts education, youth development, and nonprofit and civic engagement organizations, and recommendations on how they can be applied to the creative youth development field. Author Ed Spitzberg summarized the main finding of this literature review:

"In reviewing the practices above, five key trends become apparent:

  1. Advocacy is by nature complex and hard to measure, and therefore strategies must be multi-pronged, and advocates flexible as they actively reevaluate them as the environment changes.
  2. Defining the network and creating bonds and communication mechanisms among the group members is key, through convening, strong networks, etc.
  3. The framing is vital—for both effectiveness and impacting the group definition (as above).
  4. There is both a need for strong data and difficulty getting it.
  5. Equity can often become a tangential focus or lost altogether, when it needs to be at the center."

Spitzberg recommends CYD as a field employ a "multi-pronged, flexible adovacy" approach, continued network development, "Golilocks framing" of priorities, deeper research, and centralizing equity as a priority.

Arts & Intersections: Youth Education

Categories: Creative Youth Development, Arts Education, Advocacy

ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Series Title: Creative Youth Development Landscape Analyses

Edition:

URL:

SBN/ISSN:

Pages: 12

Resources: Document

PUBLISHER INFORMATION

Name: Americans for the Arts

Website URL: https://www.americansforthearts.org