Calling young people to apply for Environment Canterbury Youth Rōpu

Here in the Youth Engagement and Education Team we’ve been working alongside young people to find ways of building genuine and productive relationships with Environment Canterbury through education, action projects, and civic participation.

Around 50 young people from across the region have been involved in these conversations through consultation events, the Regional Youth Voices Hui, and the monthly Environment Canterbury Youth Meetups. Out of this has formed a working group of young people with support from our team and funding from Ministry of Youth Development to develop an ongoing youth participation platform for Environment Canterbury.

Members of the working group.

So far, the group has engaged the voices of young people, Environment Canterbury staff, Councillors, and the youth sector. Each group’s voice has been given weight and the final decision around the structure and purpose has sat with the working group.

Working group members during the briefing with Councillors Skelton, Lambie, Roberts and Pham.

What is the Environment Canterbury Youth Rōpu?

It’s a formal group for people aged 14-24 who have an interest in the environment, a desire to step up in their leadership skills, and be part of an exciting team of young people that make a difference. There are places for 14 young people with an additional two spaces for manawhenua representatives. The intention is to mirror the membership of the regional council structure proposed in the Local Government Bill.

The group will focus on providing advice and support for Councillors and staff on issues that matter to young people and how to engage them. They will connect young people with these issues, and will develop initiatives and projects of their own. They will meet face to face four times a year with online catch ups in between. We think it will be a time commitment of roughly 12 hours per month.

There is an exciting development plan in place to ensure that this group of young people have what they need to be successful in their endeavours. This includes noho marae, strengths coaching, and topic-based workshops that build their understanding of the core issues facing Canterbury.

Why are we doing this?

Youth engagement and education is an essential function for Environment Canterbury to deliver outcomes, strategic enablers, and levels of service. This aligns with the Regional Leadership Portfolio level of service that ‘A wide cross-section of the community’s views will be heard by Council, including youth’.
Young people will be impacted by the decisions of today - Mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri, ā muri ake nei – for us and our children after us. Ensuring they have the opportunities and ability to engage in civic leadership early in life is important. Youth engagement and participation ensures better decisions, more active citizenship, strengthened community leadership and credibility of Environment Canterbury.
Youth engagement and participation is a right under United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

So, if you’ve got to the end of this letter well done! If you have any questions or would like to discuss this, please contact Hannah Dunlop (Team Leader Youth Engagement and Education) hannah.dunlop@ecan.govt.nz or 027 405 4895.

Nga mihi,
The EYR Working Group and Youth Engagement and Education Team.