Junior Safety Forum

The Junior Safety Forum (JSF) is a youth-led, community-based initiative piloted by South Dublin County Council that empowers young people—particularly from diverse and marginalised backgrounds—to lead on issues of safety, health, and wellbeing. By giving students a platform to voice concerns and co-create solutions, the JSF fosters meaningful youth participation and civic engagement.
Through innovative, low-cost campaigns such as Escape the Vape and Nitrous Oxide: What You Need to Know, the Forum enables students to design and deliver peer-to-peer messages that address real challenges affecting their lives. Seasonal initiatives, like Halloween safety campaigns, further strengthen youth leadership and extend impact through schools and local networks.
The JSF builds strong partnerships between youth, schools, community groups, and local authorities, offering a scalable and replicable model of social innovation. It prioritises empowerment, inclusion, and wellbeing—creating safer communities while nurturing confident, informed young citizens.
The project demonstrates how grassroots youth engagement can generate sustainable, high-impact outcomes and make a tangible difference in addressing complex societal issues.

Problem addressed

The Junior Safety Forum (JSF) addresses several interconnected social and community challenges impacting young people today. One of the core issues is the increasing exposure of youth to health and safety risks, including the misuse of substances such as vaping products and nitrous oxide. Traditional awareness campaigns often fail to engage young people effectively or reflect their lived experiences.

JSF also tackles the systemic lack of youth voice in decision-making processes. Many young people—especially those from diverse or marginalised backgrounds—feel excluded from local initiatives that directly affect their wellbeing. This absence of representation can contribute to a sense of disconnection and disempowerment.

The Forum seeks to address social exclusion by creating inclusive spaces for young people to take on leadership roles, develop communication skills, and influence their peers positively. It also responds to specific community safety concerns, such as seasonal risks around events like Halloween, by supporting students to co-create relevant, peer-led campaigns.

Overall, the JSF fills a gap in youth engagement and peer education by providing a structured, cost-effective, and empowering platform for young people to lead on safety, health, and wellbeing issues within their own communities.

Innovative solution

The Junior Safety Forum (JSF) is an innovative, youth-led initiative piloted by South Dublin County Council that reimagines how safety education is delivered in communities. It moves beyond traditional, adult-driven models by placing young people at the centre of identifying safety challenges and leading the educational response.

At its core, JSF integrates education with empowerment, equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and platform to create peer-led campaigns on issues such as vaping, substance misuse, and seasonal safety risks. Educational activities are co-designed with young people, ensuring relevance, engagement, and long-term impact.

What makes the JSF truly innovative is its combined network outreach approach. It leverages the existing structures of schools, local services, and community groups, alongside the powerful influence of peer networks. Students act as safety ambassadors, spreading messages within their own social circles, creating ripple effects across wider youth communities. This blended model of formal and informal outreach ensures high visibility, trust, and relatability.

By promoting youth voice, co-creation, and shared ownership, the Junior Safety Forum delivers a scalable, inclusive, and cost-effective solution that strengthens education, enhances wellbeing, and creates safer, more connected communities.

The Junior Safety Forum (JSF) was inspired by the collaborative model of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC), which brings together local authorities, An Garda Síochána, elected representatives, and community stakeholders to address public safety issues. Recognising the effectiveness of this structure in fostering dialogue and local solutions, South Dublin County Council sought to create a youth-centred version that would combine the same collaborative spirit with a strong focus on education and youth empowerment.
The JSF adapts the principles of the JPC into a model designed for schools and young people—particularly those from diverse and marginalised backgrounds—giving them a structured, supportive platform to raise safety concerns, learn about community issues, and contribute to real-world solutions. By integrating safety education with civic participation, the Forum nurtures leadership, critical thinking, and personal agency in young participants.
In essence, the JSF transforms the adult-focused JPC framework into a dynamic educational tool that empowers youth to become active contributors to community wellbeing. It reflects a belief that young people, when informed and included, can be powerful agents of change in creating safer, more inclusive communities.

Key results and benefits

The Junior Safety Forum (JSF) has achieved strong, measurable outcomes in youth empowerment, safety education, and cross-sector collaboration. Students consistently report feeling heard, empowered, and more connected to their communities. Many have expressed increased confidence in speaking up on issues that matter to them.

A key result of the JSF has been its role in breaking down barriers between young people and key services. Through ongoing engagement, the Forum has helped build positive relationships between youth and An Garda Síochána, fostering trust and open dialogue. The Forum also collaborates actively with the Dublin Fire Brigade, local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces, and other stakeholders—creating a unified, community-based approach to youth safety and wellbeing.

The Forum’s peer-led campaigns have had significant reach. The Escape the Vape poster, created by students, was publicly displayed across the county by the National Transport Authority, amplifying youth voice in a powerful way. The Nitrous Oxide: What You Need to Know video campaign has been widely shared across schools and community networks, promoting harm reduction through relatable, youth-driven messaging.

These outcomes reflect the JSF’s success as a cost-effective, scalable model of social innovation—connecting education, empowerment, and community engagement to create real impact.

While this remains a nascent project, it is important to highlight some quantifiable early outcomes and to outline a clear strategy for measuring future impact.

To date, the initiative has demonstrated the following indicators of reach and influence:

Engagement with 8 schools across the county with additional schools requesting involvement in the next academic year.
Support from schools and teachers, who have helped facilitate participation and raise awareness among students
Visibility through bus shelter displays (approx. 30), seen by the passing public
Promotion of campaigns in Council public buildings, including Community Centres, Civic Offices and Libraries.
Delivery of the “Escape the Vape” campaign in 11 teen spaces county-wide
Motions brought by Elected Members to Area Committees based on issues raised by the Junior Strategic Forum (JSF)
Support from nine external agencies

Looking ahead, a structured impact measurement framework could include:

Tracking levels of participation and feedback from young people
Monitoring policy or resource changes influenced by JSF input
Assessing public awareness through surveys (e.g., recognition of messaging in bus shelter campaigns)
Evaluating reach and feedback related to the “Escape the Vape” campaign in teen spaces
Gathering feedback from schools and educators on the value and impact of their involvement

Together, these measures will provide a clearer picture of the project’s evolving impact and help ensure it continues to reflect the voices and priorities of young people across the county.

Potential for mainstreaming

The Junior Safety Forum (JSF) has strong potential for mainstreaming across other local authorities in Ireland and relevance for adaptation at a European level. Piloted by South Dublin County Council, the Forum is a scalable, low-cost model that successfully integrates youth voice into local strategies for safety, wellbeing, and inclusion.

Its design is flexible and transferable, allowing local authorities to tailor the programme to reflect their specific community needs and priorities. By utilising existing structures—such as schools, youth services, local policing forums, and interagency partnerships—the JSF can be implemented with minimal resources while delivering significant impact.

The Forum directly supports national and EU-level goals around youth participation, social inclusion, community safety, and preventative health education. Its cross-sector collaboration with An Garda Síochána, Dublin Fire Brigade, and Drug and Alcohol Task Forces offers a model of integrated community action that can be mirrored across Ireland and the wider EU.

In addition, the use of peer-led educational tools and combined network outreach aligns with EU best practices in youth empowerment and public health promotion. With growing interest in participatory models, the JSF stands as a replicable innovation that can strengthen civic engagement and community resilience across Europe.

Case study details

Lead organisation

South Dublin County Council

Kraje

Ireland

Regiony

Eastern and Midland

Skórki

Equal access to education and training

Integration of marginalised communities

Social integration of those at risk

Target groups

Individuals experiencing poverty or social exclusion

Individuals whose mental health or wellbeing is compromised

Other target groups

Level of action

Local

Source of funding

Public - local

Budget

The budget for the Junior Safety Forum (JSF) is scalable and flexible, depending on the scope and scale of initiatives undertaken within each local authority. At a foundational level, costs are kept low by leveraging existing infrastructure such as schools, local youth services, and interagency networks.
Core expenses may include:
Workshop materials and facilitation
Graphic design or media production support for youth-led campaigns
Small grants for school-based projects or events
Transport or logistics for inter-school collaboration or presentations

Larger-scale initiatives—such as professional video production, public advertising, or regional showcases—can be added based on available funding and partnerships.
By design, the JSF is a cost-effective model that delivers high impact through community collaboration and student-led engagement. As the programme expands, budgets can be tailored to match the level of implementation while maintaining the integrity and outcomes of the initiative.

Project start