It’s Youth Week!

This week we are celebrating Youth Week!

Our focus is around how we can improve the systems that influence youth wellbeing.

We’ll be releasing videos that demonstrate how people across Aotearoa New Zealand have been influencing change from their unique vantage point. (If you can’t wait for us to drip-feed them via Facebook and Twitter, you can check them out now over here.)

Everybody has the potential to influence the system – yes, that includes you!

With Lifehack being a systems-level initiative, we wanted to focus on the variety of ways you can influence change. No matter where in “the system” you are working, you have a unique set of relationships and perspectives that can influence youth wellbeing.

From central government policy advisors to front lines youth worker – you all have a role to play in creating positive change in Aotearoa New Zealand. You might have the potential to influence just one person – perhaps a neighbour, family member of friend. But you never know the ripple effects of that influence…

“I need to learn the game to understand the rules, once I understand the rules I can figure out how to disrupt the game” Nina Griffiths, Youth Advocate & 2017 Flourishing Fellow

Who’s in your sphere of influence?

During our recent Flourishing Fellowship programme, Gina hosted a session on Systems Thinking and Theory. She invited the Fellows to consider what their spheres of influence are and where they might be able to leverage relationships to improve outcomes.

(Much of Gina’s session was based on the work by Donella Meadows, this work by the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse and inspired by her UnSchool experience.)

Who is in your sphere of influence?

#Youthweek2017 videos

As part of Youth Week, we’ll be releasing a series of short clips showcasing some of the work that is being done by people across the motu (country).

(If you can’t wait for us to drip-feed them via Facebook and Twitter, you can check them out now over here).

As you watch these clips we hope you’ll notice the diversity. People with different backgrounds, roles, and approaches to improving youth wellbeing.

What System Theory tells us is that each contribution is just as valid and important as the other! As facilitators of change, we must begin where we are, with the tools we have available to us.