The Students Commission is the lead organization
of The Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement

The Students Commission is the lead organization for The Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement, and with academics from Brock University and Wilfrid Laurier University, has been conducting research and evaluation activities for the past three years on the impact of our conferences.

At the Head, Heart, Feet conference in March 2003, we brought together approximately 200 people, youth and adults. Our research and evaluation work for the conference included asking participants to fill out open-ended Head, Heart, Feet forms, answering the questions: what did I learn?, how did it make me feel?, what will I do with what I learned/felt today? In terms of frequency of response, from 112 sets of responses: 80.6 % indicated changed self-awareness; 79.5% indicated changed social awareness; 69.2% indicated having had a transformation; 74.1% indicated wanting to act as a change agent. The results suggest that the format and outcomes of this conference generated potential powerful catalysts for personal and social change.

The themes from Head, Heart, Feet, data emerge in previous evaluations done by Lisa Loiselle, Dr. Mark S. Pancer and Dr. Linda Rose-Krasnor at a previous Students Commission conference. The following are the major themes expressed in the "letters to self" written by delegates and staff written at the conclusion of the conference: self-awareness/personal growth; empowerment; awareness raising; hope for the future; social relations – fun and friendship; social relations – values and beliefs bringing people together..

This research about the conference was published in the New Directions in Youth Research Journal, Winter, 2003. The researchers conclude that "the major themes generated from the letters aligned with Students Commission stated objectives, purposes and expected outcomes for the conference and point towards the key ingredients for effective youth engagement processes and environments.

“The research literature tells us that youth engagement and participation can have a profound impact on almost every aspect of a youth’s development. It can also produce significant change in the organizations and environments in which youth live, learn, work and play. Youth conferences, in which youth from different backgrounds are brought together to talk about solutions to social problems that affect their own lives, promise to engage youth in a way that enhances self-awareness and personal growth, promotes empowerment, raises awareness, makes them feel respected and supported, and gives them hope for the future.”