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Youth Action Approach to the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI-SA)


The Youth Action Approach to environmental sustainability enables students to lead change in their school and community. Students are supported to become actively involved in decision-making, planning, taking action within the school and local community whilst achieveing environmental and educational outcomes.

A core AuSSI-SA value is that young people are partners and active participants in making decisions that affect thier lives. The Youth Action Approach is a student-led process in which students drive the action by; learning about environmental themes (ie energy, water, waste, biodiversity, air quality and transport), identifying school needs, planning for improvement, carrying out actions and evaluating outcomes.

Youth Action Approach

Support Resources
1. Form a Youth Action Group

Student Action Teams
A model that promotes student-led action.
Youth Voice Factsheet
What is Youth Voice and why it is important.
Ladder of Participation
Outlines Roger Harts 8 steps on the Ladder of Children's Participation.
Create a Voice: Your Voice, Our Voice, Youth Voice
A student guide to starting a youth environment group and taking action in your school.
Future Visioning Activity
An activity that guides students to create a vision of their sustainable future.
2. Document current environmental activities, programs and projects

Whole of School Approach Template (1 page) OR 
Identify school environmental activities (7 pages)
Attitude Survey
3. Choose an environmental theme to learn about and work on

State of the Environment Report 2008 Fact Sheets
A great place to start to find information about different themes within the environment.
Sustainable and Attainable website
For further information and resources about climate change, energy, biodiversity, water, waste, transport and air quality.
Sustainability Education Learning Centre
For detailed information on the environmental themes. Includes animations an ideas for what you can do!
4. Sign a Letter of Agreement with NRM Education



5. Learn about the theme Sustainable and Attainable - Tackling Climate Change
Find information about each of the environmental themes as well as auditing tools
6. Develop a School Environment Management Plan (SEMP) for chosen theme(s) SEMP Template
7. Develop and document actions in the SEMP

Create a Voice - action planning template (pg 21-22)
Use these templates to plan the what, how, when and who of your actions.
Create a Voice - growing a project (pg 18-20)
A simple project planning model that will help you collate your goals, visions, actions and evaluation into your project.
8. Take action to improve environmental sustainability Action Projects 2008 - project journal (pg 1)
Use the project journal to document your ideas, activites, steps taken, financial components, progress and evaluation. Include photos and prictures!
9. Evaluate and document outcomes in the SEMP and plan for next steps Use the resources below to assist you in the evaluation of our projects and actions.

Create a Voice - growing a project (pg19, 4.2)
Action Projects 2008 - monitoring and evaluation (pg 18)
10. Celebrate success - organise a sharing event Case Study Proforma
Use this template to wrtie your story and share it with others!


Further Resources:
NRM Education Youth Environment Forums
Youth Environment Council of South Australia


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