EarthWatch Australia - Agents of Change for the Environment (ACE) Program
With a mission to empower people to save the natural world, Earchwatch Australia is an organisation strongly aligned to VFFF's funding goal to achieve "real and lasting impact on young people's lives through supporting them to participate in and lead environemental projects".
A grant of $1,120,000 over three years is providing Earthwatch Australia support to design and implement the Agents of Change for the Environment (ACE) program and empower young people in targeted regional communities to pursue their passion for the environment. Through building participants’ knowledge and encouraging them to undertake on-the-ground citizen science and environmental action projects in their own communities, Earthwatch is developing a network of young environmental change agents across regional NSW and Queensland.
The first year of the grant sees small cohorts in three regional locations participate in a 5-day immersive expedition where they undertake a range of citizen science activities and build networks with other like-minded young people, before heading back to their community to explore their own local environmental action project.
Following the expedition, the cohort continues to be supported through the ACE program for a further 10 weeks with online sessions from the experts at Earthwatch, including webinars, live chats and tailored mentoring to help progress local action projects.
In the second and third year of the grant, in addition to rolling out the full program in other regional communities, the Earthwatch team will be expanding the online component of the program and widening access to more young people from regional communities.
This investment in the next generation of environmental changemakers will ensure that young people are equipped to be part of the solution, with the skills, knowledge and networks they need to turn their environmental concerns into action.
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