ResourcesZine is APA's youth and planning resource center. It is a free online database featuring hundreds of ideas for involving young people in planning or teaching them about community planning, environmental protection, urban design, civic engagement, geography and GIS, social studies, transportation, history, and other planning-related topics. Sortable by topic and resource type, ResourcesZine includes descriptions of curriculums, lesson plans, programs, activities, websites, books, events, and more. Let ResourcesZine be your guide for inspiring youth to become proactive members of their communities.

Dear Teachers, Planners, Parents, Principals, Organizations, and Citizens:

Today's young people will inherit a world that will be far more complex and diverse than in previous generations. They will face the challenges and opportunities of maintaining community well-being with less of the natural resources that were available to their parents and grandparents. They will face the challenge of shaping their communities to be more ecologically sustainable. They will have the opportunity to use this sustainability to improve housing affordability, enhance urban design, create true economic viability, and nurture social cohesion.

The best way to prepare youth for these challenges is to help them learn the spirit, skills, strategies, and rewards of citizenship. The American Planning Association has maintained ResourcesZine to assist those who aim to inspire children to become more involved in their community. The motivation behind ResourcesZine is to expand knowledge about planning and mobilize civic engagement in a society that offers many distractions from the most crucial elements of community building and development.

Since the planning process is a prime example of civic engagement, ResourcesZine includes resources that offer kids introductions to planning as an institution. It also features resources that are less directly related to planning, but nonetheless instill ways of thinking that are essential to positively shaping a community's future, such as environmental education, urban history, and developing a sense of place.

Fortunately, many nonprofits, businesses, schools, and individuals are already engaged in this effort. Their excellent resources are highlighted in the ResourcesZine database and newsletter. ResourcesZine is dedicated to connecting you with these useful tools for youth education. We hope you will find it a supportive website for your teaching. We encourage you to bookmark this site: information on new resources will be added regularly, not just when a newsletter comes out.

We have worked hard to improve and expand ResourcesZine to make it a comprehensive, interesting, and easily accessible site. We are keeping an eye out for new resources on all sorts of youth-related planning topics, and gathering them in one place to save you time. We welcome your feedback on existing articles and suggestions for new resources. If you have an idea on how we can improve or add to ResourcesZine in order to be of better service to you, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,