At the City of Onkaparinga in South Australia, 45,000 young people, which is almost one third of the city’s population, are under 20 years old. The Council saw a clear need to tap into the skills, energy and ideas of its young people developing the Creating Places program. This very successful program won the Youth Engagement Award in the 2003 National Awards for Local Government.
The Creating Places program targets young people ten to 19 years old. Through working collaboratively with schools, agencies, youth and community centres a series of projects have been put in place to help young people gain valuable vocational skills.
Council’s Playground Coordinator, Wendy Greenslade, said Creating Places aimed to expose participants to a range of skills and knowledge building opportunities. Wendy said these young people took on the role of project drivers in the planning and development of parks and reserves, working closely with Council officers and learning how to use project management disciplines to achieve their vision.
“Through Creating Places young people gain skills in preparing grant applications, negotiating, project and event management, budgeting and costing, community liaison, documentation and record keeping,” she said. “Participants are also given insights into environmental issues and urban planning. The program actively challenges at risk young people to become leaders in their community by working in harmony with a team which has the responsibility for project delivery.”
Young people, with the support of their team, are encouraged to make decisions with outcomes that have an impact on them as an individuals and their community.
“Positive outcomes are recognised by Council and are used in setting policy and future directions,” Wendy Greenslade said.
For more information phone Wendy Greenslade on (08) 8384 0666 or email wengre@onkaparinga.sa.gov.au
