Imagine thousands of young people coming together across the planet, to tackle global sustainability challenges such as energy, food, climate change, biodiversity and water and plan together how they can LEAD POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE. YOUth LEADing the World (YLTW) is an OzGREEN initiative, that begins with an energising annual 3-day youth leadership congress conducted simultaneously in multiple interconnected locations.

Through YLTW young people become:

• INFORMED: about global challenges, SDGs and sustainable living.
• INNOVATORS: develop action plans for positive social change.
• INTERCONNECTED: with change-makers locally and globally.

OzGREEN is now preparing for multiple interconnected YLTW Congresses to run simultaneously around the world 23-30 November 2018. This workshop will provide training that will enable participants to run YLTW in their own school and community.

To date we have trained 976 Facilitators globally.  Through YLTW OzGREEN is openly sharing the skills and experience we have gained over 25 years of delivering recognised excellence in transformative sustainability leadership and social innovation for community driven change.

You can join us in person in Bellingen or online. Real-time live online training makes YLTW more accessible to international and remote communities.

I wanted to thank you for this super empowering program that I feel has the potential to shift the entire world for the young and future generations to come.  Stephie Seika Sanada, Irvine, California

YLTW Facilitator Training

YLTW Facilitator Training gives people solution-focused tools to tackle wicked challenges, generate a vision and innovate action plans. Facilitator training underpins the success of YLTW.  The program builds capacity for local people to run YLTW in their own region. The program also helps create the glue that connects participating regions together. Facilitators come from a wide range of backgrounds and age range (youth, youth workers, government, teachers, University and TAFE, professionals, parents, grandparents). YLTW Facilitator Training is a great professional development and team-building program and a great opportunity to re-power your energy for change.

Real time live online training via Adobe Connect and Skype, is an option for remote, international and interstate facilitators. To date nearly one third of facilitators have successfully trained online.

The training program focuses on how to organise and facilitate YLTW including:

• Presentation skills and up to date science on the state of the planet
• Values-based leadership, Strategic Questioning and deep listening skills
• Facilitating group process to engage youth and community ingenuity and innovation
• Visioning, VIBRANT goals and action planning
• Eco-footprint and One Planet Living
• Serious fun – playing games with meaning

OzGREEN’s Approach to Learning and Leadership

Fundamental to the success of OzGREEN's approach, is the understanding that local communities are best equipped to understand how change can happen in their region. We seek to strengthen community resilience and capacity to create innovative ways to tackle sustainability challenges and connect change makers locally, nationally and globally.

YLTW embodies leading edge learning and leadership methodologies such as transformative learning, participatory learning and action, vision and strength based approaches, deep listening and strategic questioning. The process facilitates movement through 4-stages:

Focus: Defining the challenges we face, including Pulse of the Planet background briefing about local and international sustainability challenges;

Vision: Reflection and questioning processes to develop a vision for themselves and their communities as sustainability leaders;

Change: Creative thinking, innovation and brainstorming strategies for change;

Action: Practical goal setting and action planning for personal and community change.

This approach demonstrably fosters local ownership and harnesses the passion and intelligence residing in young people.

"Rachel is raving about the course. She said it was one of the best things she has ever done." Anni Griffiths, Gosford City Council