Youth Eco-Challenge

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Sometimes the younger you are, the less control you feel you’ve got over your impact on the planet. That’s where our Youth Eco-Challenge comes in. We help young people from across Victoria prove to themselves and others that they can make a big difference.

We start by taking a small group through an intensive ten week course. We teach them how to live sustainably, how to plan, communicate, implement a media strategy and set goals. Then we let them free over a six week period to implement their ideas.

At the end of the journey, they emerge as inspiring leaders for their community, ready to showcase their results and motivate others to follow in their eco-light footsteps.

So far, Environment Victoria has run the program in Kyneton, Maryborough and the City of Casey. In Kyneton and Maryborough, we worked with local education institutions and incorporated the program into the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning. Students earned credit towards their certificate and reduced their environmental impact at the same time. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! (Though we’re careful not to harm our feathered friends here at Environment Victoria).

We also worked with the local council in the City of Casey. The program proved so successful, we just had to run another one – the second time with a group of recently arrived migrants and refugees. In 2010, Environment Victoria is running the Youth Eco-Challenge with Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning students in the Latrobe Valley.

Our Youth Eco-Challenge is part of the Regional Sustainable Living program, which we’ve been rolling out since 2006. It’s funded by the Department of Sustainability and Environment and run in partnership with our friends at the Australian Conservation Foundation.

We're a finalist for the Eureka Prize! For the Youth Eco-Challenge and more

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