Te Wai Pounamu Foundation, a charitable trust which aims to get youth involved in their local communities, hosted a "Vote Local" workshop in Dunedin yesterday which will be replicated in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
About 30 people joined in discussion groups with representatives from the Dunedin City Council, Youth Action, Volunteering Otago and Chalmers Community Board.
People aged between 18 and 30 made up one-sixth of New Zealand's voting population but many chose to forgo their right to vote, forum organiser Celia Neilson said.
The youth vote at the Dunedin local body elections in 2007 had been "small" she said, although she had no statistics.
Dunedin's tertiary population was the biggest reason for the low youth vote, she said.
Students were in the city for only a short time and did not feel connected to local government affairs.
"It's the reason Dunedin has a small youth vote.
"Students are not necessarily apathetic, but often Dunedin isn't their home town so if we are able to mobilise that group of youth voters we'll move forward."
Ms Neilson said the the reluctance of young people to vote was because they did not think their interests were being met and the workshop was intended to inspire them to show concern for their local community.
