New ISU curriculum guides communities on including youths in conversations Thursday, December 17, 2020 11:25 AM A team led by three female faculty members at Iowa State University has turned a project that involves Des Moines youths in discussions about what their communities need into a curriculum. The project, called Design Dialogues, was formed in 2014 to identify barriers to Black and Latino youths' academic success. “Youth are often not included in community plans,” said Jane Rongerrude, associate professor of community and regional planning and a leader on the project. “They’re users of our neighborhoods, they’re a big part of the community, yet their voices are often not represented in neighborhood plans.” The team partnered with the ISU 4U Promise program and led workshops in several Des Moines neighborhoods that guided young students to think critically about their neighborhoods and articulate their visions for change. The curriculum is available for free to any community organization that is actively looking to engage youths and can be found here.