SUMMARY
The Urban Ecology Centre is a Quebec-based organization that has been empowering citizens to build sustainable cities on a human scale for over 25 years. In its latest analysis, the organization denounces theinvisibilization of teenagers, particularly young girls, who are too often excluded from public spaces and decision-making bodies. Faced with the urgency of a growing sedentary lifestyle and theeco-anxiety that affects 37% of teenage girls, the Centre calls for a reconquest of the "right to the city".
3 levels of involvement and participation for teenagers have been identified: understanding the territory through field diagnostics (exploratory walks, emotional mapping), discussing solutions via participatory budgets, and concretely transforming space through tactical urbanism.
By integrating this citizen expertise from adolescence onwards, municipalities are doing more than just planning: they are building inclusive, safe and sustainable living environments for the whole community.
Keywords: adolescent, planning, participatory budgeting, co-design, eco-anxiety, urban ecology, public space, inclusion, youth, youth, active mobility, citizen participation, empowerment, mental health, socio-ecological transition, participatory urbanism, tactical urbanism, human-scale city.
