Future Caretakers

'Youth in Action' brought together 110 year 10 and 11 students from Concordia College, Walford Anglican School for Girls, Unley High School, Glenunga International High School, and Cabra Dominican College. The goal was to understand what secondary students in the City of Unley wanted for their futures, whilst equipping them with the skills needed to better anticipate, shape, and navigate these futures. 

In the opening address, Hon Nat Cook MP, Minister for Human Services and Minister for Ageing, emphasised the role of education in shaping positive futures. Dr Kylie Heneker, SA Commissioner for Children and Young People then acknowledged the poly-crisis that we are all facing, setting up a tone for the day that did not shy away from the large and uncertain systematic issues facing all of humanity. Professor Ariella Helfgott expanded on Nat and Kylie's ideas through her presentation that explored the plethora of changes that we are going through and the signs and signals of these futures beginning to emerge in the present. 

In the morning session students explored the megatrends of Housing and Lifestyle and Global Power an economics, with opening presentations for each session given by Orr Niv Shallev and Peter Worthington Eyre, respectively. 

In the afternoon session students explored the megatrends of Health and Wellbeing and Social Connection and Loneliness, with opening presentations for each session given by Jodie Scott and Jodi Stocket, respectively. 

The closing address helped students to consolidate their learning, express their hopes for the future, and pledge the actions they intend on taking to shape them into reality; this enabled to leave feeling hopeful, aware, committed, and connected. 

Over the course of one day, students experienced the same kinds of processes that governments, communities, and organisations use when they engage with uncertainty, horizon scanning, scenario development, normative visioning, and cultivating agency and hope. By the end of the day, students did much more than talk about the future. They practiced concrete futures thinking skills, learned new ways to make sense of complexity, and experienced what it feels like to move from worry to possibility to action, together. 

This event was facilitated by and produced in association with the SA Futures Agency. 

'My Voice in My Hands' was a program focused on shaping the agenda for active community citizenship for the next 30 years. The City of Unley was successful in receiving a Youth Voice Grant from the Commissioner for Children & Young People to support this program. 

The first session saw students from Concordia College, Glenunga International Highschool, and Urrbrae Agricultural Highschool collaborate and workshop ways to empower and progress youth voice in democracy.

The second session had these students meet with expert guests who gave these students time to share their ideas and provided their feedback and perspectives to further refine these ideas. 

The students work in the two sessions culminated in a report outlining the student's exploration of their ideas. The report, which can be found here(DOCX, 3MB), will be presented to council by select students representing each of the schools in early March 2025.

 During the two sessions, students also had the opportunity to raise and vote on each other's ideas regarding youth involvement in democracy through pol.is. Based on this, the students developed five main recommendations: 

1. School based opportunities to be active citizens
2. More education to learn about democracy
3. Develop a direct youth voice to parliament
4. Establish more ways to get our voices across
5. Establish a dedicated youth body with decision making powers

These recommendations were used to shape the agenda for the final part of the program, which was a forum guided by an eminent panel of experts and select student representatives. The forum focused on the steps to progress a transparent, engaged and active community where voices are heard and actions are delivered. 

Similar to the students' workshops, the audience was also invited to use pol.is to share and respond to each other's ideas. This time, their five most highly voted recommendations were:

1. Increase youth engagement in the planning of forums and events
2. Incorporate active citizenship as a subject in high school
3. Establish more opportunities in schools to participate in different democratic processes
4. Teach youth the different levels of public office and develop clearer links between engagement and outcome
5. Establish ways for politicians to engage youth perspectives 

The event was produced in association with the Don Dunstan Foundation, democracyCo, The Centre of Democracy, Global Shapers Adelaide Community (subset of the World Economic Forum), our local High schools and supported by Goodwood Theatre and Studios.

The 'Embracing AI' forum considered the potential of Artificial Intelligence to improve our lives, now and 30 years into the future. The forum heard from Professor John Whittle - international expert in Artificial Intelligence and Director of the CSIRO's Data61 (the data and digital specialist arm of Australia's national science agency), and Bhagyashree Pradhan - Year 10 student and member of Council's Living Young Reference Group with a passion for Artificial Intelligence and its potential future applications. 

The 'Wellbeing and Mental Health' forum was the first of the Future Caretaker series. The forum heard from two speakers: Joep Van Agteren - academic researcher, InDaily 40 Under 40 Discovery Award winner, and co-lead of Be Well Co, and Callum MacPherson - 2022 SA Young Achiever of the Year, and Founder and host of Young Blood, a men's mental health podcast. 

Between the two of speakers, the audience heard some commentary on the current state and future of wellbeing and mental health, with a Q&A opportunity afterwards.