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ideas…for
making a start |
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Sightseeing:
devise a sightseeing tour of the
local area. Ask members of the
group to work out a six-stop 15-30
minute tour that they could take
visitors to, showing them their
favourite local spots |
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Greening
the youth centre:
create recycling bins for the
youth centre using cardboard boxes
decorated by members of the group
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Make
a day of it: look
up the National
Youth Agency website and choose
a ‘special’ date to
highlight during the month e.g.
no smoking day, world environment
day, world food day, the first
day of spring, Comic Relief |
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Eat
local: go local
with food at the club –
we often think about international
foods, but what grows in your
area and how can you cook it? |
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Link
up: if you have
access to the internet, introduce
your members to a site where they
can interact with other young
people and share their concerns
about different issues. For example,
the Warwickshire
Association of Youth Clubs environmental
group, mpower,
or get members to calculate their
ecological
footprints |
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Litter
light: Go on a
trip and see if you can get there
and back without dropping any
litter! |
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ideas…for
building on interests |
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Sound
of music: if the
group are interested in music,
try writing some lyrics including
what they think about local issues
(without swearing/prejudice!)
or use sounds recorded in the
local area as part of the backing
music |
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Graffiti
boards:
what do members' favourite bands
think about different issues? |
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Green
play: develop
a drama sketch or role play about
something (broadly environmental)
in the news each week as a warm
up for a drama group |
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Twin
teams:
if members play a team sport,
ask one of the international charities
like Christian Aid, CAFOD, Save
the Children Fund, Action Aid
or Oxfam to put them in touch
with a team from another country |
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Hot
off the press:
if members are involved in media
projects, take a poll of the likes
and gripes young people have about
the area and present this imaginatively
e.g. as a photo story, poem, youth
charter |
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Video
shoot:
put together a video to show young
people’s perspectives on
the local community or a specific
local issue that affects them. |
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ideas…for
involving young people in decisions |
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Our
group: how can
you involve members in decisions
about how the group is run? For
example, what is sold at the coffee
bar (is it Fairtrade?), should
you use recycled toilet paper,
what sort of decorations and posters
are displayed |
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Face-to-face:
if there are particular issues
in the area such as housing, litter
or poor street lighting you could
make contact with a local authority
officer (e.g. from the Environment
department) who is sympathetic
to involving young people and
ask them to meet members of the
group to discuss what they can
do about the issue. |
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Opportunity
knocking: when
you are evaluating an activity
or project, make a list of the
moments when decisions were made
and who made them. Could you have
encouraged particular young people
in the group to have taken some
of these decisions? Have they
begun to take decisions in the
group that are negotiated? Can
you build up the level of decision
making in the next activity? |
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ideas…for
training and support |
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Foundations:
find out what training opportunities
and resources are available to
part time workers and volunteers
or contact the local association
of voluntary youth clubs or local
development education centre.
They often have specialist staff
who may be able to support your
ideas or run training sessions
on specific youth work and sustainable
development issues |
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Greening
the foundations:
do the same thing with environmental
organisations. Contact CEE, your
local development education centre
or use local networks to find
out which environmental groups
work in your area and what opportunities
they offer |
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Following
footsteps: if
there is a particular project
that you would like to start,
contact CEE, DEA or the National
Youth Agency Information Officers
and ask if they know of anyone
who has undertaken similar work
who you could contact |
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In
the lobby: lobby
within your organisation! Sadly
all too often, if you don't ask,
you don't get! You could also
look at the possibility of organising
a support group or informal network
where colleagues could share experiences. |
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ideas…for
wider benefits |
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Going
public: take an
extra half hour after a positive
experience to write a short press
release or to phone the local
radio. We can all be advocates
for young people. |
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A
bit of green or global:
on your next residential, include
a practical session related to
the environment and explore the
global dimension to local issues |
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Public
art: murals and
other public art projects, such
as junk sculpture, can get a positive
message across and add to community
life |
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Get
consulted:
young people's voices are rarely
heard. A well organised group
of young people can represent
their point of view when local
authorities and other bodies want
to consult about their services
e.g. health, transport or housing.
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