OUTSIDE Youth Consultation
Creative Methods for Cultural Change Across the Moorlands
Urban Wilderness CIC was commissioned to lead a major youth consultation for OUTSIDE, a new arts and cultural programme in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Our role was to gather young people’s views creatively and meaningfully, helping OUTSIDE build a programme — and a Youth Advisory Group — genuinely shaped by the communities it serves.
A Creative, Playful Approach
In spring and summer 2023, we travelled across the Moorlands with carnival costume headpieces and a mobile making station, delivering Parade Placard workshops at festivals, youth clubs, markets, and schools.
Our central consultation question was simple:
“What do you want?”
Making bold, colourful, expressive placards encouraged young people to answer honestly and creatively, giving a vivid snapshot of what matters to them in everyday life.
What Young People Told Us
Participants expressed a desire for:
Spaces to socialise and feel welcome, including cinemas, cafés, entertainment venues, and youth clubs
Access to creative opportunities, from murals and immersive art to workshops and making spaces
Big cultural moments — festivals, concerts, events usually requiring travel
Greater representation and belonging for LGBTQ+ young people, girls and young women, and people of colour
Cleaner, safer, and more vibrant public spaces, with better transport for participation
Clearer information about local activities and ways to get involved
Their placards revealed humour, longing, frustration, and hope — showing that rural young people hold strong visions for their futures and their towns.
Informing OUTSIDE’s Future
The consultation directly shaped OUTSIDE’s organisational planning, helping them:
Understand cultural barriers in rural settings
Identify programming priorities
Make early decisions on infrastructure, communication, and event design
Establish the foundations of a Youth Advisory Group
Rather than creating a standalone youth panel, we supported OUTSIDE to recruit, engage, and seed their own youth-led structure, embedding young people’s influence long-term.
Why This Matters
Rural young people are often described as “hard to reach,” but approached with creativity, respect, and openness, they respond immediately and imaginatively. Parade Placards helped articulate a shared truth: young people want culture that is accessible, sociable, meaningful, and reflective of who they are. By amplifying these voices, the consultation helped OUTSIDE build a stronger, youth-centred cultural programme for the Moorlands.