Sustainable Partnerships Australia (SPA) will bring young people of the Sunshine Coast together for the Annual Youth Summit at the University of the Sunshine Coast on March 10 & 11.
The Sunshine Coast Youth Summit is an annual event organised to inspire and empower Sunshine Coast young people aged 15 to 25 years to discuss and develop solutions to issues / topics identified as important within their local community.
SPA’s Senior Project Officer Jade Frieser, said that this year SPA has reinvented the Youth Summit to create more action for change.
“The change in Summit format will also enable local governments to deliver on their key priorities with the help and input from young people,” Jade said.
Summit topics covered will include accommodation and housing, body image, drugs and alcohol, education, environment and mental health.
Jade said that the summit this year has been extended to a two days to ensure greater outcomes are achieved.
“The Summit is the ideal opportunity for young people to participate in high level discussions, brainstorming sessions and gain knowledge about the community in which they live.
It allows young people to have insight into the direction and focus of the Sunshine Coast Council, while gaining valuable leadership skills and foster relationships with a large range of people from diverse backgrounds,” Jade said,
A youth advisory committee will be created after the Summit to ensure Council has input from young people well into the future.
The Sunshine Coast Youth Summit was first held in 2008, inspired by Kevin Rudd’s Youth 2020 Summit, a creative approach to addressing the concerns of the nation’s young people in order to instigate change. The Sunshine Coast Youth Summit was developed for young people by young people to give youth of the Sunshine Coast a chance to have their say on issues in their community.
Sustainable Partnerships Australia (SPA) is a not for profit organisation focused on creating highly effective strategic sustainable community partnerships. We pride ourselves on engaging in career, transitions, drug & alcohol free community events, up-skilling of young people, early intervention & prevention programs and all key community stakeholder groups. Our organisation was created as a result of the amalgamation of two high performing organisations within the Sunshine Coast and the Moreton Bay Regions in Queensland.
