YOUth LEADing Australia!

Regional Youth Climate Action Congresses Linked Nationally 23-25 November 2010
YOUth LEADing Australia (YLA) will bring together thousands of young people to develop
shared voice, vision and action plans to tackle the biggest environmental challenges of our
times. YLA will run simultaneously in at least 12 locations around Australia 23-25 November,
linked by digital media. YLA focuses on 3 ways to make a difference:
 Personal responsibility to live sustainably;
 Social innovation for community change;
 Connecting change makers nationally.
OzGREEN launched YLA in November 2009, bringing together 500 young people aged 10-30
years, simultaneously in 7 locations across Australia. Together they learnt about sustainability
challenges such as climate change, food, energy, biodiversity and water; they met with local
sustainability champions; they shared inspiring success stories and planned actions through
digital media and social networking technology.
Through YLA, OzGREEN is taking it's proven sustainability learning and leadership programs to
scale. We know we can deliver 35% reduction in eco-footprint and increase personal capacity
and motivation to work for community change from 4/10 before to 9/10 after. Youth driven action
plans such as Manly Green YouthFest and SYCAN (Sydney Youth Climate Action Network)
demonstrate the potential multiplier effect.
YLA Program 2010
1. Pre-congress - In the lead up to the national congress, OzGREEN will conduct digital media
skills and facilitator training for local congress facilitators and mentors and eco-footprint /
sustainable living programs in participating schools.
2. YLA Congress November 23-25 – Local youth congresses linked nationally
o Day 1: Local Actions, Global Challenges - featuring inspiring talks from local community;
presentation featuring up to date science about the state of the planet and the impacts of
climate change; measurement of eco footprint and visioning sustainable communities;
o Day 2: Be the Change - Creating change brainstorming, sharing of
ideas in locations around Australia, sharing inspiring change
stories and action planning to achieve vision;
o Day 3: Youth-led Community Forums – for government and local
businesses, parents, teachers, principals and the public -
designed and run by youth.
3. Post congress - Follow up, mentoring and support of participants as
they implement their community change and personal sustainability action
plans.

About OzGREEN
OzGREEN is dedicated to fostering ecologically sustainable, socially just
and resilient communities. OzGREEN educates, inspires and empowers
people to become leaders of positive social change. Established in 1992,
OzGREEN is an independent not-for-profit organisation and operates
nationally in Australia and overseas in India and East Timor. OzGREEN’s
unique approach incorporates sustainability education, leadership and community development,
enabling people to innovate sustainability solutions themselves. OzGREEN has involved over
1,000 schools and businesses in it's environmental learning and leadership programs and has
won numerous awards, including the Eureka Prize, Banksia Awards, UN Media Peace Awards
and Best Practice Case Study for the Australian Association for Environmental Education
(NSW).
OzGREEN PO Box 301 Bellingen, NSW 2454 ABN: 82 828 395 461
P: 02 6655 2180 F: 02 6655 1964 E: slennox@ozgreen.org.au W: www.ozgreen.org