The Young Urban Environmental Leaders Project
This project will promote youth-led development with an environmental focus, by providing youth residents of an urban social housing project with training, experience, and opportunities to take action on environmental issues in their own community. Environmental education and leadership training will permeate all facets of this short but intensive job preparation, community service, and internship program.
The project's methodology will include a participatory assessment and then an opportunity for participating youth to build knowledge and skills in the areas of urban environmental issues, environmental education, and leadership. These skills and knowledge will be strengthened with practical experience gained by implementing youth-led projects, in the workplace, and as environmental educators and peer mobilizers in the community.
Specifically, its strategy consists of six steps:
Module 1. Project planning, communications (within the community and beyond), and partnership building.
Module 2. Youth-led community resources and challenges assessment and community environment & culture event. Identification of potential Youth Environmental Leaders, followed by individual interviews with youth interested in joining the Young Urban Environmental Leaders program.
Module 3. Youth Environmental Capacity-Building Course, combined with workshops gender and racial equality, leadership and conflict resolution, introduction to web design/blogs, youth networking and participation in decision-making, and Brazilian housing and social justice movements.
Module 4. Youth-led Environmental Action Projects in which the Youth Environmental Leaders take leadership roles in planning, carrying out, and evaluating projects, combined with weekly workshops to develop the specific skills necessary to carry out the project, as well as job skills. Informal mid-term evaluation.
Module 5. Short internship placements in partner organizations that work in the areas of environment, urban issues, and social inclusion, combined with workshops on project planning, management and evaluation, and career and personal planning.
Module 6. Community environmental festival and presentation of youth-led projects.
Module 7. Participatory evaluation of the project, with follow-up after 3 months.
Thus, over the course of the project, participating youth will receive a broad education about current urban environmental issues, and will develop the values and skills necessary to be effective peer educators. They will use and expand this knowledge as they implement small-scale, youth-designed projects in their own housing complex. Projects will focus on two major areas that are repeatedly cited by residents, including youth, as barriers to quality of life in the housing complex:
1. Problems due to poor garbage management and lack of recycling, resulting in the proliferation of cockroaches, rats, mosquitoes and pigeons.
2. Lack of recreation opportunities for children and youth, resulting in the use of the road as the local "playground" and putting children's safety at risk.
After gaining knowledge and skills and building self-confidence, the youth will be offered one-month internship placements, selected according to interests of youth and partner agencies' needs.
At the end of the project, the youth will organize a community environmental festival, where they will communicate the results of their work and invite others to contribute to ongoing improvements to quality of life of residents of the housing complex, as well as offer cultural and recreation activities for children and youth.
Finally, a participatory evaluation will allow a review of sucesses and weaknesses, and sketch out future steps for youth-led development in this and/or other disadvantaged areas of Santo André. and partners and youth will carry out a participatory project evaluation.
In the long term, the project will continue to address housing and environment issues by forming a group of peer environmental educators who will promote ongoing discussion and activities that address urban environmental issues that affect the quality of life of residents. Both during and after the project, these youth leaders will seek out, with project coordinators' and partner NGOs' support, opportunities to share their experiences and ideas with policy makers and other youth.
The project's methodology will include a participatory assessment and then an opportunity for participating youth to build knowledge and skills in the areas of urban environmental issues, environmental education, and leadership. These skills and knowledge will be strengthened with practical experience gained by implementing youth-led projects, in the workplace, and as environmental educators and peer mobilizers in the community.
Specifically, its strategy consists of six steps:
Module 1. Project planning, communications (within the community and beyond), and partnership building.
Module 2. Youth-led community resources and challenges assessment and community environment & culture event. Identification of potential Youth Environmental Leaders, followed by individual interviews with youth interested in joining the Young Urban Environmental Leaders program.
Module 3. Youth Environmental Capacity-Building Course, combined with workshops gender and racial equality, leadership and conflict resolution, introduction to web design/blogs, youth networking and participation in decision-making, and Brazilian housing and social justice movements.
Module 4. Youth-led Environmental Action Projects in which the Youth Environmental Leaders take leadership roles in planning, carrying out, and evaluating projects, combined with weekly workshops to develop the specific skills necessary to carry out the project, as well as job skills. Informal mid-term evaluation.
Module 5. Short internship placements in partner organizations that work in the areas of environment, urban issues, and social inclusion, combined with workshops on project planning, management and evaluation, and career and personal planning.
Module 6. Community environmental festival and presentation of youth-led projects.
Module 7. Participatory evaluation of the project, with follow-up after 3 months.
Thus, over the course of the project, participating youth will receive a broad education about current urban environmental issues, and will develop the values and skills necessary to be effective peer educators. They will use and expand this knowledge as they implement small-scale, youth-designed projects in their own housing complex. Projects will focus on two major areas that are repeatedly cited by residents, including youth, as barriers to quality of life in the housing complex:
1. Problems due to poor garbage management and lack of recycling, resulting in the proliferation of cockroaches, rats, mosquitoes and pigeons.
2. Lack of recreation opportunities for children and youth, resulting in the use of the road as the local "playground" and putting children's safety at risk.
After gaining knowledge and skills and building self-confidence, the youth will be offered one-month internship placements, selected according to interests of youth and partner agencies' needs.
At the end of the project, the youth will organize a community environmental festival, where they will communicate the results of their work and invite others to contribute to ongoing improvements to quality of life of residents of the housing complex, as well as offer cultural and recreation activities for children and youth.
Finally, a participatory evaluation will allow a review of sucesses and weaknesses, and sketch out future steps for youth-led development in this and/or other disadvantaged areas of Santo André. and partners and youth will carry out a participatory project evaluation.
In the long term, the project will continue to address housing and environment issues by forming a group of peer environmental educators who will promote ongoing discussion and activities that address urban environmental issues that affect the quality of life of residents. Both during and after the project, these youth leaders will seek out, with project coordinators' and partner NGOs' support, opportunities to share their experiences and ideas with policy makers and other youth.
UN-HABITAT fund awards 67 youth projects around the world
Nairobi, 30 Sept 09
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=7315&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0
UN-HABITAT has awarded grants from its new Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development to 67 projects proposed by young people from around the world.
The first beneficiaries of the agency’s new Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development were drawn from a pool of 1,116 applicants from 86 countries. Kenya, India, Pakistan and Cameroon generated the greatest number of successful applicants under the programme started with funding from Norway to the tune of USD 1 million annually.
The 67 winning projects from 33 countries, will be feted in Washington at the global celebration of World Habitat Day on 5 October. Many of their ideas are aimed at alleviating poverty, improving employment prospects, education, the environment, health and safety.
The Opportunities Fund awards eligible organizations grants of USD 5,000 to USD 25,000. Those qualifying have to meet strict UN criteria and are required to report on results and effectiveness.
“This application process had two goals, both of which exceeded our expectations,” says Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. “We wanted, for the first time, to define the breadth and depth of global youth development in some of our most challenged urban environments. We also wanted to enhance the successes of innovative youth groups that have proven benefits for their communities. We are amazed at the quality and quantity of applicants.”
Of some 1 billion slum dwellers in the world today, it is estimated that more than 70 percent are under 30. These young people have few resources available to improve their own living environments.
Among the recipients are a Kenyan environmental group recycling plastic waste, a Nigerian HIV/AIDS counseling project for young mothers and sex workers, a Palestinian group dedicated to computer and media training as a platform showcasing human rights, and a Pakistani literacy, job and lifestyle skills development programme. Another is a Brazilian youth organization which trains young people as environmental leaders.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=7315&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0
UN-HABITAT has awarded grants from its new Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development to 67 projects proposed by young people from around the world.
The first beneficiaries of the agency’s new Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development were drawn from a pool of 1,116 applicants from 86 countries. Kenya, India, Pakistan and Cameroon generated the greatest number of successful applicants under the programme started with funding from Norway to the tune of USD 1 million annually.
The 67 winning projects from 33 countries, will be feted in Washington at the global celebration of World Habitat Day on 5 October. Many of their ideas are aimed at alleviating poverty, improving employment prospects, education, the environment, health and safety.
The Opportunities Fund awards eligible organizations grants of USD 5,000 to USD 25,000. Those qualifying have to meet strict UN criteria and are required to report on results and effectiveness.
“This application process had two goals, both of which exceeded our expectations,” says Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. “We wanted, for the first time, to define the breadth and depth of global youth development in some of our most challenged urban environments. We also wanted to enhance the successes of innovative youth groups that have proven benefits for their communities. We are amazed at the quality and quantity of applicants.”
Of some 1 billion slum dwellers in the world today, it is estimated that more than 70 percent are under 30. These young people have few resources available to improve their own living environments.
Among the recipients are a Kenyan environmental group recycling plastic waste, a Nigerian HIV/AIDS counseling project for young mothers and sex workers, a Palestinian group dedicated to computer and media training as a platform showcasing human rights, and a Pakistani literacy, job and lifestyle skills development programme. Another is a Brazilian youth organization which trains young people as environmental leaders.