Leadership Development at the Annual Youth Forum

Young Change Agents worked with City of Parramatta Council to create a workshop that was both a youth leadership opportunity and a generative approach to garnering insights from young people about their challenges and hopes for the future of their community. Young people conducted empathy interviews and used the insights from those conversations to ideate solutions to identified opportunities and issues in their community.

Co-designing the Tweed’s Youth Outdoor Recreation Action Plan

Young Change Agents worked alongside Tweed Shire Council to design and deliver a co-design process that not only empowered young people to create the Tweed they want to see, but also built the capacity of everyone involved; participants, young leaders and Council staff.

Co-design workshops were delivered across four priority project areas, informed by the Outdoor Youth Recreation Survey conducted by Council in the same year.

These priority areas included:

• Bike facilities

• Skate facilities

• Events & activities

• Outdoor spaces

The co-design project engaged 43 young people, 6 youth facilitators, 5 industry experts and 8 Council staff across various units of council.

Youth Engagement at the Melbourne Knowledge Week Eco-Design Challenge

Young Change Agents worked with the City of Melbourne and CQUniversity to host a one-day environment-focused design challenge for 50 young people from Melbourne. Young people were tasked with ideating solutions on how young people might encourage the local council and their community to engage in responsible consumption and production in the future. They then pitched their ideas to a panel that included the City of Melbourne’s Climate Resilience team.

Youth Engagement and Supporting Young Mothers to Become Wealth Creators at the 2.5 Day KYPP Workshop

La Trobe Valley has one of the highest rates of single mothers in Australia. Young Change Agents worked with La Trobe City to teach young mothers aged 12-21 entrepreneurial skills, enabling them to become wealth creators and launch their own businesses. The 2.5 day workshop, involving young women associated with the Kurnai Young Parents Program (KYPP) encouraged young single mothers to set themselves up as positive role models for their children and build a secure, confident future through social entrepreneurship.

Supporting Young People to become Wealth Creators and the Leaders of Tomorrow through the Catapult Program

Young Change Agents worked with the Logan City Council innovation team to support the development and delivery of the Catapult Program. In its first year, the program engaged 88 students and 28 teachers from four schools in the Logan region. The program included a two-day intensive social enterprise design workshop, followed by a six-week program, including teacher immersion, professional development, and capacity building. The program culminated in a regional showcase event, bringing together outstanding student teams from all four schools.

The Catapult Program is an example of a program designed to support economic participation and foster the next generation of social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. Throughout the program, young people were able to engage with their local community, develop their leadership skills, and gain capabilities that will help them succeed in their future careers and endeavours.