Young voices heard at Festival of New Ideas

26 November 2024

Hawkesbury City Council invited the region’s young people to make their voices heard at the Festival of New Ideas Youth Summit earlier this month (7 and 8 November).

Findings from the Youth Summit will inform Council’s new Youth Strategy for the next four years.

The event focused on elevating the ideas of local young people to help guide the future direction of local projects, events and initiatives. Students and young adults, aged between 12 and 25, took part in a series of workshops including strength-based advocacy and leadership activities, music production, street art and merchandise production.

Throughout the two days, young people identified their key concerns including the need for more local entertainment options, greater access to reliable public transport, increased access to mental health support services and investment in natural disaster prevention. Other topics of discussion were the impacts of youth homelessness, social media, cultural and religious freedoms and education and employment opportunities.

On the final day of the event, young people presented their ideas and recommendations to Hawkesbury City Councillors and other stakeholder groups.

Vanessa Dunn, who was one of the young people engaged in planning the Festival, and MC’d on Day 2 of the event, said, “It was an amazing experience, and I had a lot of fun throughout the event! The session with Youth Action was incredibly powerful and interactive; I learned so much and was inspired by the discussions. Another standout moment was the session with Alison from Hawkesbury City Council, where we worked with other young adults to share our ideas. Having the opportunity to discuss those ideas with three Hawkesbury Councillors was truly empowering.

“Overall, I had an awesome couple of days, and I’m grateful to have been part of such a transformative event.”

Council would like to extend a special thank you to the members of the youth planning group who guided the delivery of the Youth Summit, as well as Merana Aboriginal Community Association, Aerosol Obsessions, Youth Action, Hawkesbury Headspace, Heaps Decent, Youth Employment Service, Richmond Community Services Inc and Hawkesbury Community Outreach Services for their support in bringing this event together.

Over the next four years, Council has committed to strengthening and rebuilding the connections and relationships the organisation has with young people and will develop a new Youth Strategy to inform and guide Council’s work with young people.