Archive for the ‘Spotlight’ Category
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Inspiring ideas for the future
3 billion. Thats the number of young people under twenty-five in the world – as threebillion points out, thats half the worlds population.
How can the energy and ideas of this group contribute to development? Well, Michael Boampong has some thoughts. We’ve featured Michael’s organisation, Young People We Care, previously on the vlabs blog.
Here, Michael discusses Youth-Led Development: Promoting Sustainable Development and Empowering Youth in an essay for the website Youthink!’s International Youth Day Essay Contest.
Responding to the essay question set by the World Bank, What are your tangible ideas for how youth can create effective, long-lasting change? other ideas include a TV channel by and for youth around the world, a wider look at how our attitudes can help shape our planet’s future and how obstacles like red-tape or limited finances should not young people from making a difference.
What are your ideas?
In preparation for the Y2Y Global Youth Conference 2009, the World Bank is seeking essays on Youth Entrepreneurship in times of crisis.
Get writing.
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Time to unite against climate change
With the United Nations Climate Change Conference looming in December, the pressure is on to get the world working together to cut carbon emissions. Today sees the launch of the 10:10 campaign to cut persuade the UK’s individuals, schools, hospitals, businesses and organisations to pledge to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. Created by the Age of Stupid team, the campaign has already drawn support from celebrities and environmental campaigners, but also from the likes of British Gas, Tottenham Hotspur FC, and the NHS.
747 to 1010 in 34 seconds from Age of Stupid on Vimeo.
It would be easy to dismiss the role of 16-25 year olds in taking practical action to cut emissions – after all, they’re less likely to hold the power in businesses, schools and even in households. Yet many charities are harnessing the enthusiasm and dedication of young volunteers for climate change projects, and what’s inspiring is the way that diverse organisations are working together.
The UK Youth Climate Change Coalition isn’t just another brand-new organisation, it’s a youth-led coalition of youth organisations, large and small which have joined forces to reach out to millions of young people up and down the country. Their vimeo site creates a platform for the voices of climate change activists from all over the world.
Climate change and Nepalese Youth from Avishek Shrestha on Vimeo.
Also in the UK, the digital team at vinspired and the team at Made by Many have just launched a new website for Climate Squad, a network of young volunteers taking practical action against climate change. Supported by v and Bank of America, and delivered by Global Action Plan, Climate Squad will train 300 young people to lead their own carbon-cutting projects in their own communities. These young leaders will work with businesses, schools, colleges and householders to show them how to measure their carbon footprints and make small changes in their behaviour to produce measurable reductions.
Recently published research, Climate Squad: young people’s views on climate change, shows that three quarters of young people in England would like to volunteer on a climate change project. So we’ll be down at the Tate Modern this evening to find out more about what 10:10 have planned, and will be keeping an eye on The Guardian’s new 10:10 portal.
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Spotlight: The Good Gym
Be good, get fit. Thats the tag being used by the creators behind a new project bringing together volunteering and exercise. By linking runners and isolated less-mobile people, the Good Gym aims to overcome the loneliness experienced by some older people. Runners will jog to their house, deliver something nice, have have a brief chat and be on their way again.
Like v’s work to define volunteering for a new generation by providing a range of opportunities to fit young peoples lives (we value whatever time they can give), the Good Gym is an interesting example of what they term, the ‘fine-grain’ approach to volunteering, where participation is based on frequent low impact activities that are integrated usefully into the participant’s life.
Over the Summer and Autumn of 2009 the Good Gym will test the working and processes of the project in Tower Hamlets. If you live or work in the area then join the good gym pilot project.
As the people at the Good Gym say, it will help you get fit by provding a good reason to go for a run and it will help the person being visited by providing them with some friendly human contact.
Join the pilot. Get running.
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Spotlight: Orange Rock Corps
While almost every large corporate organisation, (especially those in the technology industry), encourage their employees to spend a few hours each month volunteering, or donate sums of money to a range of charities, it is quite surprising that only one has actually gone about associating their brand with volunteering in a huge way – namely, mobile phone operator Orange with Orange Rock Corps.
When I first heard of Orange Rock Corps, I thought it was a great initiative. Encouraging kids to volunteer and giving them tickets to gigs in return for their time? Considering the target audience, who probably spend half their waking time listening to music on their iPods anyway, it is a smart and relevant way of motivating them to engage with the community they are a part of.
One of the best parts is that all ‘payment’ is only in kind, and it is a win-win situation for all involved: the kids, who get to see their favourite artists live; the artists, who get to interact with extremely enthusiastic young fans, also earning good karma points in the bargain (plus it won’t hurt their image to be associated with an event like this); and Orange, who through association with the event, become known as a brand that genuinely puts their money where their mouth is, especially to a segment of the population that probably forms a huge proportion of their user base.
I’m surprised other brands haven’t cottoned on to this yet. If you know of any other big brands that are involved in volunteering, do let us know.
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Spotlight: Ashoka and Youth Venture
This presentation is rather interesting, because it ties up the concept of social entrepreneurship with youth action. Created by Ashoka and Youth Venture, it explains the background behind the two organisations and how working together can help shape a new generation of changemakers. For those not in the know, Ashoka is an organisation that supports and provides opportunities for social entrepreneurs who work across the world, mostly in developing countries, to create innovative and vital solutions to problems such as poverty and illiteracy. Youth Venture is a division of Ashoka focussing on young people. Take a look at the presentation:
Ashoka And Youth Venture OverviewView more presentations from Youth Venture. -
Film: Everyday Heroes
Everyday Heroes is a film about a group of young adults who decide to dedicate a year of their lives to teaching and mentoring needy kids through the San Francisco branch of AmeriCorps. It is not as easy as it seems, and they have to deal with a host of problems. Directed by Rick Goldsmith and Abby Ginsberg, the film aims to document the successes, failures, hopes and ambitions of a group of youngsters who, as they quite rightly describe it, are ‘potentially tomorrow’s leaders’. Though I haven’t seen the film, I think it will be an on-the-ground picture of what volunteering actually is like, and therefore very valuable for all young adults and anyone who is interested in youth volunteering in general.
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Spotlight: Young People We Care
We’ve all heard of charities or voluntary organisations run by adults, but this is the first time I’ve heard of a non-profit that is run entirely by young people aged 15-30, with older adults providing guidance from the outside. I think Michael Boampong, the founder and Executive Director of Ghana-based Young People We Care, explains what the organisation is about best:
“At the age of twenty, I took a gap-year before attending university to pursue my dream of creating a non-profit organization to inform, educate and empower young people to change the world. With little or no funding, many said it would be impossible, but the achievements of YPWC, through the efforts of the volunteer staff of YPWC and the team of online volunteers, prove otherwise. Today, we even have offices in the UK, Canada and the USA”, says Michael Boampong, YPWC founder and executive director.
The focus of Young People We Care is to work on ensuring that the Millennium Development Goals are achieved satisfactorily. Michael hopes that everyone will ‘be the change they want to see’, as Mahatma Gandhi once said. A noble ambition, which every single organisation that works in youth volunteering is no doubt helping achieve, little by little.
Young People We Care-Promotional Video from Michael Boampong on Vimeo.
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