Foreword

The Shire of Esperance Communities for Youth (CfY) project engaged young people aged 12 – 25 years to identify how to make Esperance a better place and experience for young people. The engagement activities took place in March 2015 with the outcomes report available in July 2015. The Department of Local Government and Communities provided additional funding to progress a second stage of the project, the second stage engaged youth in prioritising the report outcomes and delivered an Esperance Youth Summit which reviewed the top priorities and youth developing project concepts to support a youth-friendly Esperance community. To prioritise the report outcomes youth were provided a multiple choice survey which required them to rank each theme and also each of the strategies under each theme. The outcomes from the Survey would be used at the Esperance Youth Summit whereby the youth delegates (attendees) would identify and develop three projects from these themes. At the Summit delegates brainstormed various ideas and then analysed the priority themes based on what was achievable in a two year timeframe (also considering required resources, people, capacity, money etc.). The youth narrowed these down to two projects per theme by identifying and debating their preferences. The final three were then selected by the youth investing (i.e. using a dollar value) in the projects they believed could be achieved and wanted to pursue. The survey was completed by a sample group of 157 young people with more than half aged 1517 years. The four themes that ranked highest were 1. Education, Training and Employment; 2. Community Support and health Services, 3. Communication and Information and 4. Leisure, Recreation and Social Life. The Summit was attended by eleven young people who developed project concept proposals for a Youth Event’s Committee, Youth Help Centre and a Youth Precinct. Youth and community stakeholders were invited to meet and discuss the project proposals with the young people which resulted in connections to look at developing these further after the Summit. The delegates developed a CfY 5 year vision being ‘In 2021, Esperance is a progressive youth-friendly community built on a supportive, positive and diverse environment that actively engages all young people.’ Communities for Youth Stage 2 provided the opportunity to both continue the project and to attain a scoped focus for progression. While Stage 2 funding has ceased with the completion of this report, this report outcomes and connections made at the Summit have the potential to initiate the next. The recommendations from this report include, • Continued support, development and progression of youth projects from Summit through partnerships with youth and stakeholders • Exploration of a Shire of Esperance youth advisory group to support ongoing youth engagement in planning, policies, strategies etc. • Creating greater awareness of report outcomes and to foster greater community involvement in supporting youth friendly community including opportunities for youth engagement and leadership. • To act on the above while still current and have youth and stakeholders connected and engaged in working towards a youth-friendly Esperance community. The project was limited by the number of young people who attended the Summit and therefore youth involved and supporting the projects. In addition a greater cross section of ages in the priority survey may have caused different results; more than half were aged 15 – 17 years whereby study and employment is highly relevant.