Building and sustaining quality relationships as a foundation to belonging 

Aligning with partners that have the same vision

• Build co-design/working with rangatahi in your decision-making criteria
• Gauge organisations maturity in this space, willingness to pivot and learn from others rather than relying on out-of-the-box solutions

Creating safe spaces where young people feel accepted, included, and valued 

Championing the voice of rangatahi  

•  Include information in updates, signage about how the space has been shaped by young people to acknowledge their value in the process
• Create a Communications strategy to promote the space, sharing updates with the community to create excitement and engagement for the opening
• Young people’s art and designs to be included in the final build (for example, online design competition and judging)

Celebrating success  

• Acknowledge the time and effort that went into the space (for example, awards)
• Ask if some rangatahi would like to share their own testimonials. Testimonials can also help rangatahi in the future to see the value of engaging with community co-design activities

Empowering young people with useful, timely, and meaningful information. 

Acknowledging rangatahi

• Highlighting that rangatahi involvment has contributed to results and milestones will make them more engaged and invested in the process