Parliament of Youth on Sustainability

what is it?

The Parliament of Youth on Sustainability is an annual program that culminates in a one day mock-Parliament event. It is a fun, engaging and respectfully competitive student-centred initiative for primary school, high school and college students. Whether in kindergarten or year 12, students research and develop proposals over term 1 and term 2 on how we can make Canberra and the region more sustainable. Then students groups from around 20 different schools come together for the Parliament Presentation Day, were they act as Parliamentarians and present, discuss and debate each others proposal (addressing the theme below) in committee groups. The winning committee teams then pitch their proposal to ACT Members of the Legislative Assembly in the afternoon, before all students vote on the best proposal.

2021 details

Date/time: The Parliament of Youth on Sustainability ran on Thursday 24 June (week 10, term 2) from 8am - 3pm.
Location: It was held at the Kambri Precinct, Australian National University (ANU).
Theme (Proposal Question): What is one action we can take to thrive on Ngunnawal Country?

2021 white paper - final report

The White Paper is essentially the final record of the 2021 SEE-Change Parliament of Youth on Sustainability, including summaries of the student committees, their proposals and photos. You can find the White Paper here.

2021 feedback

Almost 100% of all participants would participate in the Parliament of Youth again.
The majority of participants enjoyed the preparation for the PoYoS and highly enjoyed the Parliament presentation day event (with 92% of students rating it 8/10 or more).
The Parliament of Youth on Sustainability significantly increased the majority of participants knowledge understanding of, and motivation to learn more about, environmental issues.
The event also greatly inspired the majority of participants to make personal life-style changes to be more sustainable and take action in the public sphere to address environmental issues.
The most enjoyable aspect of the event for all participants was listening to students present and justify their ideas. Other aspects the participants highly enjoyed were participating in the activities, team work and engaging with other students, the process of research and leaning, public speaking, debating (asking questions and discussion time), engaging with politicians, the prizes and ‘Ready for Action’ award, and listening to the guest speakers, speakers and facilitators.

Students Ministers, SEE-Change Executive Officer Brook Clinton and stakeholder panel: Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly

special thank you

Funding Support: ACT Education Directorate; the ACT Environment, Planning & Sustainable Development Directorate; and Sue Salthouse - the 2020 ACT Senior Australian of the Year, for contributing funding for the 2021 Parliament of Youth on Sustainability
Venue Support: Kambri Precinct, Australian National University
Sustainability Stakeholder panel: Minister Yvette Berry, Minister Chris Steel, Minister Rebecca Vassarotti, Minister Shane Rattenbury, and Shadow Minister Leanne Castley
Stall holders with sustainability oriented activities: ACT for Bees, ACT NoWaste, Actsmart Schools and the H2OK program (EPSDD), ANTaR ACT, Australian Dance Party, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Canberra Environment Centre, Canberra Innovation Network, Icon Water and SEE-Change
Keynote speaker: Aoibhinn Crimmins, the 2020 ACT Young Environmentalist of the Year, ANU student and climate activist
Volunteers: 27 college student facilitators, four community volunteers, three teachers and three University students contributed time and energy in helping the event come life

2022 parliament of youth on sustainability

SEE-Change are currently seeking funding for the 2022 Parliament of Youth on Sustainability - watch this space!

faq

Can I access the 2021 teacher resources?
Yes! For a Quick Guide Teacher Resource (with the bare essentials you need to know), please click here.
For everything you need to know, see the 6 Step Teaching Sequence which includes forms, student activities and great resources on climate change, plants, animals, natural resources, and sustainability issues globally, in Australia and in the ACT. You can find the 6 Step Teaching Sequence here.

What’s involved before the Parliament of Youth Presentation Day?
In terms 1 and 2 of 2021, participating teachers expose their students to concepts of sustainability and thriving. Students learn about global and local environmental issues and then form a ‘Parliament team’ to address the ‘Proposal Question’.

How do teams work?
Each school may enter up to three Parliament teams in each of the year group categories:
- Kindergarten-Y3 (6 team members) - Y7-Y9 (3 team members)
- Y4-Y6 (6 team members) - Y10-Y12 (2 team members)

What do Parliament team’s do?
Each Parliament team:

Studies one aspect of sustainability in the ACT;
Develop a Proposal for Action, addressing the Proposal Question;
Outline their single proposal for action in a one-page Green Paper;
Prepare a 5 minute presentation based on their Green Paper;
Choose one student to act as their Minister if their proposal is chosen as one of the best at the Parliament. Ministers prepare a one minute summary speech outlining and selling their proposal in case they need to present this at the Parliament.

What happens on the day?
At the Parliament of Youth Presentation Day, school teams come together for a full day of student-led and student-focussed presentations, respectful discussion and peer-to-peer learning, voting, sustainability-based activities and the chance to connect with real decision-makers. This event is student focused - it is facilitated by year 12 students, for participating students, and proposals will be voted on by students!
A rough outline of the day is as follows:

In the morning, students gather into year group committees (K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12) with other schools. Each parliament team delivers their 5 minute presentation. Committees vote on their favourite presentations.
In the afternoon, all students come back together as a full Parliament for the student Ministers from the winning committee teams to present their 1 minute proposals. ACT members of the Legislative Assembly will be there to listen to/question/congratulate the presenting teams.
Students vote on the best, final proposals. Student facilitators announce the lucky draw prize and the winning proposals!

How is it beneficial?
The Parliament of Youth on Sustainability gives students the unique opportunity to:

Gain a deeper understanding of, knowledge about and critical thinking towards ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Develop a sense of environmental RESPONSIBILIY and capacity to make a difference
Collaborate in a team to figure out ONE ORIGINAL IDEA about how we can make Canberra more sustainable
Engage in respectful discussion and question, challenge and DEBATE ideas
PRESENT their amazing idea to hundreds of students from all over Canberra and to ACT Politicians

The Parliament of Youth on Sustainability is also important for teachers to engage with as it addresses one of the three main priorities to study as outlined by the Australian Curriculum: SUSTAINABILITY. Teachers can connect content across learning areas and subjects.