​got the opportunity to attend the Youth Action Plan for Christchurch event organised by Youth
Voice Canterbury on 14 th December 2016. The event was held at the CCC function room to discuss
what need to be done to improve youth wellbeing and how to do it. Young people from different
backgrounds came to this meeting to share their opinion and thoughts with city’s leaders. At the
beginning of the event, we did some group activities to get to know each other. During the event,
everyone sat in groups with city councillors and Mayor to discuss the youth action plan.
In my group, two city councillors sat with us and we discussed about below topics:
 How City council can relate to youth
 Youth wellbeing
 Housing
 Public transportation
My group presented the idea to the councillors of having Youth Community Boards in every ward
like Spreydon- Cashmere youth community board. The city councillors were on board with the idea
and said they want to make it happen next year. It was a great idea to increase the youth
representation at the CCC and a great way for council to relate to youth.
Under youth wellbeing we discussed about the importance of keeping a well balance between
mental and physical health among youth. In addition, we also talked about the housing and public
transportation which are related to the youth wellbeing. Some of the suggestions we came up with
to improve youth wellbeing were,
 Open a youth centre with sport complex for young people to hangout
 Conduct workshops and Q&A sessions for youth
 Frequent meetings with youth organisations and youth representative from every ward in
Chch
 Well trained youth advisory group
 Quality and affordable housing to improve living standards
 Safe, affordable, and improved public transportation system
 Continues cycle lanes around the city
 Provide transportation to the proposed youth centre from anywhere in the city so every
young people have a way to get there
 Improve security at bus stops
 Make everyone feel safe and belong in the city
The event was a great opportunity for young people to have their say and share their vision for the
future Chch. This event showed young people that city’s leaders care about their opinion and willing
to work with them. It was a great encouragement for the youth and looking forward to many more
events like this to come.
By: Sasindu Anjula.

​Yesterday, I, as well as many other passionate youth, attended the Youth Action Plan for Christchurch. In this event, we started off by playing games and getting to know everyone there. We got to create our own youth space to see in Christchurch with the help of people from What Now. My group came up with the idea that the reason why so many kids go to places like the bus exchange or the mall is because almost every bus goes there. We decided to have the youth space be near the city center so it is easy to get to. Most youth are bored, and there are parks for smaller kids in the city, but not really anything for teens. With the help of members of the city council, we created a two-story building, with many rooms in it, so that people don't get bored. Some of the rooms consisted of a gym, a room to find out more information about employment, a lounge, a garden outside, and a wellbeing room. 
On the topic of jobs, most youth, like me, want to get a career but can't since they don't know where to go. We were thinking we'd have an event monthly where local businesses and employers show up to promote their workplace. Also, on the topic of wellbeing, we said that youth are too afraid to openly talk about their feelings. People need to realize that there are places to go for help, and we would have a whole room dedicated for information about mental health, and places to talk about feelings and emotions.
Later in the day, city councilors joined us and talked about policy and changes we would like to see implemented in Christchurch. My group came up with the idea that cheaper or even free buses would increase the use of public transport, leading to a sustainable future. We decided that we would have a week in Christchurch where all the buses were free or at a lower fare, to see if it would work. I get driven to school everyday, and it's much better for the environment to take the bus. Some people from the group I was in considered having buses to "order" from the council. The idea of this would be that a safe, qualified bus driver would get a call asking to be driven to a place in the city. Members thought of this idea since you see lots of empty buses in our city, which isn't good for the environment.
Another policy we considered was lowering the voting age for interested teens. We thought up the policy, with the help of the mayor and another council member. The main idea was that the voting age shouldn't be lowered nationally for everyone, since people would probably vote for the most popular meme. But, for teens like me who are interested in politics, there would be a way for us to register to vote. The process would be through the city council, and would have to prove that they don't take voting as a joke. The future of New Zealand and our politics affect us, but we have no say in it by a vote, and I wish to change that. A councilor said that youth interested in politics know more than old people who don't really care, but they get a vote and we don't.
On the topic of environment, we put in place ideas about cleaning up our waterways, and putting more solar panels in our city, to assure a sustainable future.
After selfies, chats about policy, and eating way too much free food, the event closed. I felt inspired to create change in our city and wrote emails to MPs about the ideas discussed in the Youth Action Plan. Working with the Christchurch Youth Council, the Christchurch Youth Movement, and Youth Voice Canterbury was an amazing experience. We all collaborated and shared our thoughts and ideas to eachother and members of the city council. With all us working together we can create a sustainable, youth friendly Christchurch. I would like to thank all of the organizations yesterday that joined together to make real change in our city.

- Azaria Howell

Very excited to have celebrated another successful year! 

This event was an opportunity for whanau, and friends of CYC to come along and hear what we have been up to for the year. We also produced our annual report, which you can view online in our resources section. 

This is also the time to thank and farewell many of the CYC team, with many of our long standing CYC team stepping down and handing over the reigns. Congratulations and thank you to the 2016 co-chairs Alice Ridley and Kaitlyn White who have both been celebrated with lifetime memberships to CYC. 

This was an opportunity to welcome the new CYC executive to the team and vote on the officer roles. We are happy to announce:

Kendra Burgess-Naude (Co-chair)
Tei Driver (Co-chair)
Aiyana Manson-King (Secretary)
Dominic Wilson
Sasindu Anjula
Azaria Howell
Alice Bevin
Ashni Kumar
Stacey Lee McConway
Jayden Roper
Sophie Harrison
Bethany Baker
Vinura Abeysekera
Kendall Lattin
Nick Smith

Looking forward to an exciting 2017!

​On the 26th and 27th of September, the Christchurch Youth Council with support from Youth Voice Canterbury and PYLAT hosted Youth Focus: Local Election Q&A 2016. The purpose of Youth Focus was to involve youth in the process of voting for the next local government and hearing the opinions of candidates on youth issues. Young people are the future in any community, and their voices need to be heard at all times but especially during an election period. We were very lucky to have such strong support from different community groups including the locations of both events the Undercroft at the University of Canterbury and St John of God Waipuna. Many candidates running for a position in council and boards were very supportive in their attendance and promotion. We aimed for Youth Focus to be an environment that young people felt invited to speak and/ or listen to what plans for the future of Christchurch. The formality of other events can turn away youth and we hoped to create a friendly event that would support youth engagement. The atmosphere of Youth Focus was one of discussion and collaboration that we hope continues in the coming years with the elected members of the council and community boards. There was a positive turnout at both events that will develop a  stronger relationship between youth and local government. Candidates offered very innovative ideas for youth engagement in their community that we look forward to seeing develop.
 
Key topics and ideas discussed at Youth Focus included

• Increasing the communication between local government and youth over topics such as the planning or redevelopment process in Christchurch.  
• The inclusion of young people in community discussion in some form of representation that is yet to be established.
• Active participation by the Council on agreements in youth engagement already formed including the Memorandum of Understanding shared with the Christchurch Youth Council.

 
These ideas are important efforts that will support the process of reconnecting youth with local government. The excitement over youth engagement could flourish into future events and discussion that will assist the rebuild of Christchurch. The event of Youth Focus was a step in the right direction to enhance the participation of young people in Christchurch both in national and local government process.  

Date and Time: 1 August 2016, 6.00pm-8.30pm
Venue: EPIC Innovation Centre
 
On August 1 at 6.00pm we kicked off our second S.O.Y event- Slice of Youth 2.0. This month’s Slice of Youth focused on the theme of Sustainability and Martina Moroney, member of the Christchurch Youth Council, was our lively MC for the night.
 
Speaker 1
Louis Go- Cultivate Waste
Website: http://www.facebook.com/cultivatewaste
Email:  louis@cultivate.org.nz
 
Our first speaker, Louis Go, spoke about his involvement with Cultivate Waste. Inspired by the large amount of everyday food wastage and lack of a green waste collection in the CBD, Louis was motivated to develop Cultivate Waste. His organisation collects organic waste from the CBD in their own specialised bins and takes it to a farm where it is turned into compost. The bins are innovatively transferred via an electric bike and trailer, to further promote sustainability and a healthy environment. They also clean some CBD business bins to make them more appealing to people when throwing away their rubbish.
 
Louis also talked about his involvement in the ‘Live the Dream’ programme. ‘Live the Dream’ developed the entrepreneurial skills of young people who want to make a change. This programme allowed him to turn his food collection service- which he began a year before his involvement in this programme- into a growing business. He now works with two other students to keep the business moving and is hoping to expand it further to more inner city businesses.
 
Cultivate Waste is a fantastic example of what a group of people can do to have a positive impact on the environment. Sustainability is very relevant to Christchurch as it rebuilds after the earthquakes. Small businesses like these can make a significant change in the sustainability of the city and work to develop a healthier environment. We are very grateful to have a young change-maker like Louis come and speak to us and reinforce the idea of a sustainable Christchurch.
 
Speaker 2
Anzac Gallate, Nola Smart and Beth Melchers- Cashmere High School Sustainability
Website: http://www.cashmere.school.nz/co-curricular/world-environment-award.html
 
Our second speakers were Anzac Gallate, Nola Smart and Beth Melchers- students at Cashmere High School who are on the sustainability council at their school. They spoke to us about winning the Zayed Future Energy Prize 2016 in the Global High Schools Oceania category and the process they undertook to earn this award. The prize was launched in 2008 to represent the sustainability visions of Sheikh Zayed and the winner of the high school category wins $100,000 to spend on making their school sustainable. Previous winners of the award are Al Gore, Liter of Light, and Panasonic so this was an outstanding achievement by Cashmere High School.
 
After the 2011 earthquakes, the school was inspired to become a leading school in sustainability for New Zealand. They started their ecoDriver project in 2012 and began by installing smart metres to analyse electricity consumption. Wireless probes transmit data to the ecoDriver website for analysis and six smart metres measure the electricity used across school blocks every 30 minutes. The data is then displayed around school on LED screens for the students to see. Students also ran a ‘Switch Off’ campaign which encouraged both students and teachers to turn off lights when they weren’t in the room or not needed. From a simple task like this, the school managed to reduce their energy consumption by 10%. They also installed LED lights around the school as part of this campaign which saved another 20% on energy consumption.
 
To earn the Zayed Future Energy Prize, the students introduced a three-phase project for energy saving. The first phases focuses on solar energy generation, the second on wind energy generation and the third on Piezoelectric energy generating floor tiles. The most noticeable of the three phases is the installation of a solar panel array in July 2016. The 25kw solar grid was installed on top of buildings positioned to get maximum sunlight and it has a potential generation of 32,500kWh per year.
 
Through this fantastic work in making their school more sustainable, Cashmere High School earned the Zayed Future Energy Prize and intend to continue creating a more sustainable school environment. It was great to have Anzac, Nola and Beth speak to us about their sustainability projects and see that there a youth in Christchurch really working to create a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable future.
 
 
Shoutouts:
 
Our shout session is for people were at the event and wanted to do a 20 second shout out, letting us know if there was something to get involved in in Christchurch or offering their services. Thanks to everyone who did a shout out!
 
April McLennan, the founder of Limitless, spoke briefly about the ‘Live the Dream’ programme. This programme is a young social enterprise accelerator and are currently taking applications for their 2016/17 programme. Applications close soon so if you are interested in this programme, apply now! You can apply here: http://livethedream.org.nz/apply/
 
Alice Ridley, co-chair of the Christchurch Youth Council, spoke about CYC who are looking to recruit new General Members. If you would like to get involved in the city and have a voice in your community, then this could be the perfect opportunity for you to do just that! Applications close on 23 August at 11:59pm. To apply click here: http://www.chchyouthcouncil.org.nz/join.html
 
Martina Moroney, co-chair of the One School Network (OSN) also did a shout out. OSN is an organisation of students across the Christchurch community. She asked a question which she would love some opinions on- What is the biggest sector lacking help within the Christchurch community? If you have an opinion to share with her then message her via the Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/OneSchoolNetwork/?fref=ts
 
Festival for the Future is a weekend dedicated to young entrepreneurs, activists and other inspiring people from all aspects of the community. More than 550 people attended the festival in 2015 and they have incredible speakers from across New Zealand. Tickets sold out very early last year, so if this event interests you, check out their website! http://www.festivalforthefuture.org.nz/
 
Singularity University summit is held in Christchurch from the 14-16 November this year. The summit brings together ‘the world’s top speakers and experts on exponentially accelerating technologies together with New Zealand and Australia’s leaders of today and tomorrow.’ The tickets are normally $2000 for adults but High School students have cheaper prices and it is discounted for young people. If you’re looking for a world-class event to attend, then have a look at their website here: http://www.singularityunz.com/
 
Jess from UC briefly informed us about the Fossil Free Divest club at the University of Canterbury. If you’re heading to UC next year and want to get involved in a club that promotes a sustainable planet, have a look at their Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/groups/845142632225514/
 
Gap Filler is working on creating some temporary projects in the Eastern frame of the city. If you’re interested in being a part of this, contact Martina Moroney or Kaitlyn White from the Christchurch Youth Council.