NSW Youth Work Awards – Celebrating our partnership with UNICEF Australia

We are excited to announce our work with UNICEF Australia was recognised by the NSW Youth Work Awards 2023, where we were nominated for our ‘Outstanding Partnership’. Together we worked on a project called ‘Children, young people and climate change: developing child-centred indicators for climate justice’.

To learn how children experience, respond to, and interpret the climate crisis and its potential solutions across different contexts, we hosted creative and participatory workshops with 49 children and young people (aged 10-18) across NSW. They shared their views on climate change in a way that can be channelled into Australian policy, advocacy and programming.

We engaged with young people in flood-impacted communities in Northern NSW, an urban area impacted by slow onset climate change in Western Sydney, and a transitional economy in the Upper Hunter. During our two-day workshops we also co-designed child-centred indicators to measure the impacts of climate change and climate action on children and young people. Our goal is to capture children’s experiences on a regional level, so climate solutions are context-specific and child-centred.

Our team collaborated with Yehansa Dahanayake, a dedicated youth co-researcher, who played a key role in our project. Yehansa co-analysed the workshop data and contributed to the development of the child-centered indicators and the final report.

“Being nominated for the Youth Work Awards 2023 was an incredible feeling. I felt as though our project really mattered and was doing important work. And while we didn't win, it was heartening to see all the wonderful people working towards enhancing the lives of young people across the country,” shares Yehansa.

“Being a part of this research project has been incredibly surreal.  I feel respected on the team, and that my views truly matter and reflect young people’s experiences. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a report or research project that has genuinely engaged young people, and I hope it is not the last,” adds Yehansa. “Including young people in research processes, or any project for us or on behalf of us, is so incredibly vital. We have a fresh perspective and a new way of understanding the world that is hard to come by.”

Yehansa is helping us to communicate our findings to other young people across Australia, ensuring the voices of her peers are heard and understood. She also encourages other young people to become involved in co-research and recommends others “seek out opportunities, make networks, go to workshops that interest you and don’t let any sense of fear stop you from pulling your seat up at the metaphorical table”.

The NSW Youth Work Awards are an annual celebration of the exceptional work of youth services and youth workers across NSW. The awards are hosted by Youth Action, the peak body representing young people and the services that support them in NSW.

We would like to congratulate Inner West Council Youth Week Working Group who won this category and Yurrawala Youth and Family Services & Mission Australia, Pound for Pound Boxing and Mentoring who was highly commended for the same. It was an honour to be nominated alongside them.