Dynamic Youth was a "Sustainable Youth Action"
programme run by Youth Scotland. The Scottish
Executive supported this initiative with a Sustainable
Action
Grant - to focus on young people and sustainable
development.
In partnership with BP Exploration Youth Scotland
carried out environmentally based youth development
programmes from 1991. This preceded or coincided with
international thinking on tackling environmental
issues, particularly at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992
which developed Local Agenda 21 and more recent
thinking on sustainable community development,
community empowerment and community capacity
building.
Youth Scotland received a total of £76,000 over 3 years
(2001/02-2003/04) to support the Dynamic Youth
programme. They also received significant funding
from BP for this project.
Youth Scotland hoped to have 2,400 young people in Scotland participating in a Dynamic Youth project by the end
of 2003-04. The achievement was 2278 participants
in 282 projects.
The Dynamic Youth programme enabled young people to
identify an issue that they wanted to tackle and then
through their youth group form a "Dynamic Youth Project
Team". All teams had their own adult Key Worker who
had undertaken a Dynamic Youth Induction.
The programme aimed to encourage youth
development, active citizenship and sustainable
development.
Youth Scotland launched Dynamic Youth at a conference on Saturday 3 November 2001 . The
Minister for Environment and Rural Development attended this launch event.
Projects have been carried out throughout Scotland , with increased awareness of issues relating to the
environment and sustainable development observed among
youth leaders and young people participating.
Examples of projects carried out are:
Organising a sponsored event to raise
money for resources at a new community
school;
A community recycling campaign;
A peer education project about young
people and health;
- Social inclusion programme focussing on young
peoples' views on drug use;
- Recycling paper from questionnaires; outdoor
activities course providing experience of natural
environment; community capacity building by
providing a voice to local young people;
- Recycled slabs to make crazy paving path,
recycled wood for bird tables and garden
furniture. Shrubs and planting selected to
provide bird and insect habitats.
These are a few examples of the places where
there were projects:
Plean Girl Zone (Stirling) -
Taking part in a "Trash n Fash n" show using
recycled materials to make their costumes.
Keith Youth Club (Moray) -
Creating an educational garden in the grounds of
their local community centre.
Wester Hailes Youth Agency
(Lothian) - Organising an environmental fun and
information event for local young people.
Breasclete Junior Youth Club
(Lewis and Harris) - Setting up bicycle maintenance
workshop and mending old bikes for community
use.
Sandwick Youth and Community
Centre (Shetland) - Renovating vandalised centre
toilets being careful to mend, reuse and recycle as
much as possible and use environmentally friendly
decorating materials.
The work put across a variety of sustainable
development messages - covering the natural environment,
re-use and recycling, health and local economy - within the
activities with local groups.
Contact
Youth Scotland
Balfour House
19 Bonnington Grove
Edinburgh
EH6 4BL
Telephone: 0131 554 2561
www.youthscotland.org.uk