Introduction The Shire of Esperance’s successful application What is a Youth-Friendly Espeance to the Department of Local Government and Community? Communities ‘Youth Friendly Communities Grant’ During the initial CfY engagement activities funding program established the ‘Communities for (Stage 1) in Esperance the participants identified Youth (CfY) project. the key ‘ingredients’ that they believed were essential to make a youth-friendly Esperance In March 2015 CfY engaged young people to community. It was noted that some of these attain input as to how the Esperance could be were already in place however there was more youth-friendly. As a requirement under the potentially room for improvement plus a greater funding criteria eight themes were reviewed and focus towards supporting a better experience explored to understand what was important to make Esperance a better place and experience for for all young people in Esperance. These are young people. The eight themes are listed below, listed below along with a brief explanation as to describe each specifically. 1. Education, Training & Employment • Welcomed: Young people feel welcomed into 2. Community Support & Health Services a place (etc.), whether that be the atmosphere, 3. Leisure, Recreation & Social Life the experience or the set-up. 4. Transport & Housing • Youth Specific: Places, spaces and activities 5. Public Spaces, Buildings & Natural specific to young people; where they felt Environment connected, safe, supported, understood their specific needs and interests and provided 6. Communication & Information opportunity to be with other young people. 7. Civic Participation & Volunteering 8. Respect & Inclusion Following the completion of this project, the Shire of Esperance were offered additional funding to support the next stage of the project, as agreed to by both parties and the funding criteria. The Shire of Esperance was successful in receiving this funding to support further youth engagement activities including the Esperance Youth Summit. This report provides an overview of Communities for Youth Stage 2 (S2) including the process and key outcomes. This report has been prepared by Jodie Mortadza of Consult Innovate Create (CfY Facilitator) with input and feedback from the Shire Community Support Officer, Lynda Horn and Executive Manager Community Division, Rod Hilton.
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• Affordable: Many young people were simply excluded due to costs, including low costed activities hence this was an important consideration for youth inclusion. • Accessible: Many young people were also excluded due to not being able to access activities (e.g. transport, support, public facilities etc.) hence this was another important consideration for youth inclusion. • Individual Factors: When it comes to young people it is most important to respect and understand that one size does not fit all. What may work for one young person may not necessarily work for another and this can be well outside of their control. Examples include confidence/self-esteem, family culture/relations, socio-economic factors, personal supports or lack of them, etc. Hence when talking about young people we needs to consider the varying factors that impact their lives, their choices and their options.
