ACTIVATE

KEY PROFESSIONAL

CITY COUNCIL

MAKE YOUTH LEADERSHIP PART OF PUBLIC LIFE

We all need to rise to protect what we love. Not from a place of fear or anger against someone. But from a place of love, fighting for what we love.

Chloe Maxmin

Divest Harvard, youngest Maine State Representative

We live in challenging times for mayors and councillors.

Societal changes, eroding social cohesion, escalating madness, aggression, environmental crisis, shifting economies, hostile influence of dishnorable power groups via media … and the young?

We also live in highly exciting times, if you can draw on the thousands of youth-, citizen- and council-powered solutions … that are very well replicable in 1,000s of cities, also yours. But do you, your local citizenry and young generation even know of them?? What’s needed is that …

  • your citizens know, so they start it
  • youth know, because they have the time, daily community, free infrastructure, and the finest spirit – if activated!
  • you do not stop or sabotage them, out of ignorance
  • you get to know of some “council solutions”

However, you being busy, let’s focus on empowering Youth Leadership, this means 100s of dynamic teenage changemakers. The rest will follow naturally, via youth in YL learning programs.

We make it super simple. Get to know our general approach below. We are available to help you with causes, opportunities and foci specific to your setting.

Eric, YL

The Blessings of Youth Leadership

Peace, vibrant community, positive spirit, a sense of belonging, steward-ship, appreciation of cultural and natural heritage, volunteerism, care for the homeless, rich nature with abundant animal and plant life, a clean environment, safe public spaces, … if that is what you want… youth leadership is your biggest ally. Also for having fun, and knowing your region’s future looks good.

Set an enabling framework

Although youth leadership is 100% bottom-up and individual, wise councillors can set a nurturing framework that is simple, free, powerful, and generates rich win-win benefits aligned with your aspirations – from top-down, like teachers and journalists, two other key professions that you will want to connect with.

Understand the spirit

Look, famous changemakers are not found in bureaucrat. It has reasons. We tick different, also from Green or Left Parties. So … as a well-meaning politician, you’ll have to learn to understand how young change-makers feel, tick and act, so you do not ignore or sabotage them, but can gently support them. We are not a threat, nor a pet. Learn to trust us, let us do, be actively aware, commu-nicate. with us, be 100% honorable.

For a first impression of youth leadership, and a vision of what it can add to your city life, please flip through our brochures 1 and 2.
To best understand your precious young experts in shaping “the city we all want to live in”, you will have to take the Tutorial.

We encourage you to also take off the mayor’s hat, and, as ordinary human, do the Adult Crash Course, to experience your fellow citizen’s roles, and better activate their powers.

As you can tell, this is not just for failing schools and hoods, for fixing bad governance. No, it is even more for functional schools, with healthy hearts, minds, skills, access to resources, and the liberty to think not about oneself – but to helping others, also abroad. They will collaborate with caring peers across schools.
Keep in mind. At YL, we work with the world’s genius changemakers. We are not wasting their time, trying to edutain or motivate uncaring students. We are helping the caring ones awaken to our time’s opportunities and turn their talents and love for people and planet into action. This is what generates big impact.

One can weave Youth Leadership into Public Life …

with simple steps – perfectly aligned with your aspirations for a peaceful, vibrant, collaborative citizenry.

Teenage changemakers operate independent of adult organizations. They act like individual social entrepreneurs. Some found their own organizations. Some spark chapters at schools. WE AIM AT sparking multi-focus changemaker student clubs at schools. They don’t take on one but 100+ issues modeled existing model solutions, enabling year-round fireworks of activities, cascading across schools, public spaces and media, like you have seen in the brochures. Through online communication with outstanding changemakers and local allies, they develop considerable expertise, skills and willingness to mentor peers and uplift the greater community.

They address environmental and social issues hands-on, decreasing violence, poverty and neglect. As they experience safe and vibrant public spaces, recognition by adults, pleasant encounters, and liberty to co-create life in public spaces, they develop a sense of belonging with their home city and region. As they detect needs and fix them, and explore natural and cultural heritage, they also develop a sense of stewardship, and it spreads to the citizenry, which re-discovers and enjoys their city through the youth.

Their actions constantly produce solution stories in vivid uplifting imagery, ‘positive news’, which studies show do produce the most “clicks, likes and shares”, and have positive effect on readers’ mental health, an active citizenry. That’s what you want, and your occasional presence in those stories is wanted, too.

Your Superpowers

as councillor and mayor are considerable. Like a good king or queen*, you have overview of everything. Citizens and youth don’t. So, that’s your superpower.

You know your region’s needs, assets, stakeholders, staff in charge, from school principals and librarians librarians to the business and science community.

You know potential partners for young changemakers’ specific eco-social ventures, can see win-win benefits, contribute micro seed funding, generate publicity.

You have access to macro resources, public services, communication, events, programs, partners at higher, regional levels. You have ‘status’ and trust.

You are used to think big, in ‘all schools’, ‘an entire district’, ‘for three years’, and to come together for creating multi-stakeholder frameworks.

You know using patient policies, gentle messaging and focus investments for steering a diverse public.

Equipped with basic knowledge and appreciation of youth leadership, a creative mindset and staying in the loop, you can facilitate considerable changes.

Like every Adult Ally, you support on-demand. Yet, since there is not to spark youth leadership in the first place, your role is also help inspire it.

So, let’s connect your superpowers to the change-maker community, to unlock potentials. Your role is brief. Activities are run by caring citizens at schools, libraries, in media, civil society, and by YL volunteers.

* We’ve pooped out monarchies, which is good, as they use rule of force and torture. But, are people democrats? Each would love to have absolute majority, and reign freely, right? Anyway, besides the wise constraints of democratic processes, with us, you can act like a good king or queen, granting flocks of fairies and virtuous knights liberty to heal the world.

Let’s put on the Magical Spectacles of Youth Leadership

and have a look at what mayors and city councillors can spark for their people.

You are used to envisioning, planning and observing measures unfold effects over years. So, you can tell how many small steps add up to cultivating awareness, good spirits, involvement, support and considerable tangible impacts en masse.

It gradually grows and evolves, like a tree. Can you activate each branch of “your tree”? Look at the splendid results!

Browse our Brochures

for a quick impression of our work.  view

Browse the Online Exhibit

for inspiration and first ideas. view

Take the Tutorial

and eventually continue with the Crash Course. view
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Meet young changemakers

for a group meeting at eye-level, annually, and on demand. Hear their stories, ups, downs, learn how they activate youth, citizens. Express your backing, ask how you can help, act on it.

for news presence

when they propose laws, and by showing up at their activities. Enjoy the moment, bring your family if they enjoy, grant a photo for social and news media.

at events

Meet them, sit down, join round tables, podiums on the event’s theme with youth leaders and local adult allies.

offer patronage of youth events

that they come up with, such as volunteer fairs, micro film festivals. Be present, enjoy.

BASIC PERSONAL ACTIVATION COMPLETE

Share the Good News

with friends, family, colleagues, and have conversations on youth leadership to spark ideas

Best, if you have taken actions for hero*ines during the tutorial. 

Activate Staff

Make youth leadership present using

  • brochures
  • use the SURVEY with colleagues to find out their views on youth leadership
  • share progress of a hero*ine you support

Meet up with inspired folks

Find agreement on what kick-off activities are easy, where, when, maybe aligned with partners, occasions.
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BASIC LOCAL CREW ACTIVATION COMPLETE

Send Survey to Professionals

Key professionals: teachers, librarians, journalists, organizations. Optionally, for the boss to pass on to the board, all, or the FEW staff known to care for activate citizenship !!

+ to city departments of youth, environment, … (later, also get police on board, so they appreciate, respect, kindly protect)

Assess feedback, act on the positive responses (share with us, if you like)

incl. offer of materials and collaboration to nurture youth leadership

Seed Stories in Public Media

  • tram video, PSAs
  • big posters at bus stops
  • infoboxes and screens

to spark attention, vision, conversations … soon local hero*ine stories will appear here !!

Use Art in Public Spaces

  • artistic hero portraits
  • XXL posters
  • wall video projections
  • audio installations: hero*ine stories, music  from park trees, lamps
  • walk-acts
  • visible, uplifting, inter-active for the entire community.  view

Do Hero*ine Poster Exhibits

  • in public + the town hall, + public libraries + malls
  • use multimedia, video projections, music
  • offer poster sets to schools & workplaces
  • meet-up at a public exhibit, invite youth, key professionals, citizens to discuss virtues of youth leadership, involvement
  • add FUNdraiser for global + local hero*ines
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BASIC LOCAL NETWORKING COMPLETE
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Next steps are in response to activated Youth Crews and Changemaker Student Clubs.

FEEL FREE to continue and build on the steps below. One can invent more steps. We are eager to hear from you, help, and share your example.

Clubs will run a wide range of projects

creating eco-social good saving the town a lot of money.

  • Be well aware, informed and appreciative. There is more to come!

Not all, but some can make use of your support, and they may not know it.

  • Contact them!
    (View more above)

Clubs will come to you

to change laws. Their hero*ine peers have done so, and councils changed laws, since it made sense.  It’s likely that you will also agree. Hence …

  • When kids and teens turn up, or contact your secretariat, take them extra serious.

They are your finest caring citizens, now and for decades to come.

Invite a YL Speaker

YL Staff or Hero*ine to an event, preferably as part of a campaign. There is much to learn for everyone involved, and it is a brilliant opportunity for you and local changemaker youth to spend time together,

  • on the listening end
  • on the local end
  • planning your common future
  • doing something fresh and exciting
  • with follow up!

view

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Follow Change-maker Clubs

See their activities, how they grow across schools

  • giving Crash Courses
  • making exhibits
  • running stands with bakesales, activities…
  • set up a HeadQuarter

Go visit Clubs

at school, fests, their FUNdraiser stands on markets, campaigns, join them in the field restoring rivers, tracking biodiversi-ty, documenting natural and cultural heritage.

Makes great feedback, backing, news coverage, inspires your citizenry!

Use Occasions

  • like school and town fests, UN Days, project days and weeks
  • invite or go visit

it builds a bond with the youth, their parents, allies, media, the community

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We serve 50 UN Days through the year

on issues

on issues, Day of peace, literacy, youth skills …  view

for groups

Day of youth, girls, women, rural women, teachers …  view

for nature

Day of forests, wetlands, water, mountains, oceans, …  view

for the city

Day of families, habitat, charity …  view
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Co-create Positive Change Media Culture

that is authentic, solution and action oriented. Youth are teachers in our pro-grams produce positive news magazines; films, local edition, also with local journalists, meshed with our platforms.

It’s good for mental health and an active citizenry. Know what they do, be part, support, network.

Share with departments and public services, to learn from and collaborate with youth news crews.

Tell Local Hero*ine Stories in Public Media

  • tram video, PSAs
  • big posters at bus stops
  • infoboxes and screens

showing the progress that the citizenry has made.

+ add comment conveying “onwards to shaping our good future” to nurture positive views of future, youth, collective power.

1 of you join them go visit a Hero*ine abroad

working on eco-social issues in India or Africa

  • to see the impact of their support of their venture
  • document vividly
  • report back, grow the movement

add your voice, share your experience w colleagues

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Honor them

not cheesy, seriously.

Knowing their journey, and allies involved, you can have a wonderful ‘family’ event celebrating achievements that your framework facilitated. Aw! Make it a PhilanthroParty, have Change Generation music, invite celebrities, future allies, sit down, connect, share ideas, make plans, take great photos! Make uplifting news! Propel them up, and off to the next level!

"Let them be Council"

Why should only council members (and their specific lobby buddies) but never citizens pitch multi-million dollar projects? … some of them good, many ok, some junk failures. 

 

Read more.

DID YOU KNOW? Mexico City employs a creative to dream up anything, no matter how crazy or even technically possible, and departments check how this may fit in.
DARE. By this time, they have proven themselves, built trust with you and the citizenry.

After some years, let advanced young local hero*ines pitch a list of measures that their cross-schools-changemaker tribe agrees the community needs. This can be small or big, from a bench in the park to an annual street art festival, a transparent house, hiking trails, a bridge, or reducing child sex abuse to zero.

Let the general public know via news media and market stands (the youth, you and allies are pro’s by now) and cast their votes for 3 projects (not just their one own favorite. Then, set out to realize the top 1 together, by drawing on a fund and partners. Or do more; some will be easy, and your people would like to see them.

“Being Council” can be just for the pitch, or involves moving the measure forward, experiencing how council works for 1 week, 1 month (can be around a holiday period), and maybe accompany it until completion. This depends on the measure, whether their involvement makes real sense, and their passion. Remember: no pressure, but liberty! These brilliant youth have already evoked more than any of your citizens, spent record hours doing good for others, and they certainly don’t need “a lesson in committing to a cause and see work through.”

Imagine the inter/national news coverage and your citizen’s attention to being responsible for their own bright future.

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First steps make Youth Leadership spirit present through media. Next, activated youth manifest it. Then, on demand, you support. As you get to know each other, you team up. No use to plan hard. It evolves by itself, in waves, in seasons, and with positive surprises.

When I come across program titles like ‘Re-dreaming New Mexico’ or ‘The City We All Want To Live In’, or ‘The World That Our Hearts Know Is Possible’ I think of the above and the thousands of solutions powered by ordinary citizens, celebrated as hero*ines on media, honored with our societies’ finest awards. Hey, these solutions are like puzzle pieces for a bright new world, and ideas being free, we can all copy paste them to our home regions.

It helps to have a bigger, complete, motivational vision like embodied the titles above, for newbies to see that it’s not about little stuff like turning off the tap, an organic muesli bar, one school or one solution. If we copy-paste 100+ solutions, fixing problems, uplifting public space, nurturing co-creative participation – it really turns life awesome. 

One needs positive imagination fueled by good practices, vibrant communities and amazing teens. Imagination that is not limited to the scandals and million dollar apartments on soap trash tv, escaping via airplane for once seeing colorful vegetation and big animals, staring in shock what a real tomato tastes like, then back home to same BBQ as ever, dull work life, drinking hard for … what exactly?, pretending it’s all good, with 10+% of school bullying, child sex abuse, 30% rape, sadness and madness on twitter.

NO MORE!

We had all the good things at home, and they are merely sleeping. We can reawaken them when we dream it up, and we will love and enjoy it more than ever. Especially, when they are threatened to disappear. Completely.

The knowledge aka wit aka model solutions are available, told in vivid stories. All you need is a caring citizenry with spirit, heart and time, pepped up with a sense of fun and gameful adventure. Ah, yes, your adult citizenry is only partly equipped. As you’ve seen in the brochures, those are superpowers of the young generation – once they are activated.

So, let’s not wait for crisis to hit home, or be happy with basic survival. We can make our regions thrive with a merry genius hi5’ing citizenry, sovereign in food, peace, energy, our families and kids safe and awesome, resilient against anything from climate crisis to hostile take-overs.

Swift Steps to Start

Seed Info

among colleagues.

Agree on common wishes and steps to cultivate youth leadership

Seed Hero*ine Stories

at bus stops, on tram tv,

Add calls for youth, teachers and citizens to get their free Starter Pack (Crash Course)

Organize Poster Exhibits

in public spaces, malls, at fests, libraries …

Add calls for youth, teachers and citizens

Big Robust Steps

LEVEL UP! Campaign

Book YL Staff to run Crash Courses at all schools.

  • YL Staff run courses at 5-10 schools in 1-2 weeks
  • Inspired students are guided to form student clubs, and focus teams for their favorite causes, to take swift small actions, and spread the spirit to peers at school
  • Next, YL staff and activated students give Crash Courses at another 10 to 20 schools
  • Activated students join a workshop to develop advanced skills, and decide on next, bigger actions
  • We gather with youth from different schools to share stories, passion, celebrate achievements, bond, plan for what’s next; inspired teachers are invited, too
  • We document activities from start to end, to share on YL, social and news media
  • Activated students are now advanced newbies. They know of their opportunities, equipment and support to run 400+ activities year round, at schools and in public

The Crash Course Campaign is a big step for sparking Youth Leadership in general. We have cause-focussed visions for you, too. View below. Changemaker Student Clubs at all your schools, with hundreds of rocking youth uniting their time and talents over years, for free are great help for achieving them. They may also be the missing piece. In any case, they much amplify the reach, impact and far-reaching results for and on your current and future citizenry.

Are you active on Climate?

In case that you are concerned about climate matters, we have something for you.

Below are more issues that your region’s inhabitants may enjoy.

Climate Crisis Resilient Regions

Cities and communes are issueing Climate Emergency Declarations, but they are limited to decreasing CO2 emissions a little bit, while leaving citizens sit idle.

We enourage you to take a complementary approach that is already necessary : make your region climate crisis resilient using 70+ already implemented policy approaches – restoring water, food, energy and peace sovereignity to protect what you have. If done the right way, it strongly activates youth, key professionals, the citizenry, so we don’t just survive and thrive and live. And that is what’s really needed, climate crisis or not.

From this unexpected angle we can create a framework for re-dreaming your region, and creating the city we all want to live in. You can even call it this, and not mention climate.

We all want these things.

We know the geniuses leading these initiatives.
Their example and knowhow can help others achieve, adapted to context and culture.

Restore Biodiversity

Create Arks. Gift private, school, communal land to the Earth, for her children, to re-wild. Use as LearnScape.

Ecosystem Restoration. Heal the wounds of the Earth, with volunteer-driven camps

Raise awareness among Kenyans for Africa’s last great wildlife.

Local Food Abundance

Edible Landscapes. Not stingy but edible greenery in parks, along country roads, managed by schools, citizens, seniors, a public LearnScape.

Public Food Lots like by Tod-morden’s Incredible Edible, private, public, accessible to all.

Community Gardens. Make them funky!

Ending Violence

Cure Violence. Curb gun violence by up to 90%.

Stop Street Harassment. Make our streets and public spaces safe and welcoming for girls and women again.

Red Brigade Lucknow. Train girls self-defense against sexual attacks. Shame rapists.

Restoring Peace

Children’s Peace Radio. Youth-powered radio show expressing young people’s experience of violence, and wish for peace.

Children’s Peace Movement. 3 million children responded to the call to vote on what future they want. Adults laid down weapons, changed laws.

PhilanthroParty Culture

LemonAID Warriors share simple, realistic tools for kids and teens to become effective agents of change in their communities. Since families are busy, they turn what is already on their calendar into opportunities to serve.

Family gatherings, birthdays, holiday parties, sports team events, sleepovers and play-dates can be given a little twist to support a cause through raising funds, awareness and spreading kindness.

Also, fired up teams can run FUNdraisers, charity concerts, backyard carnivals, bake sales and lemonaid stands at farmers’ markets, town and school fests, year-round!

They also organize learning activities at schools, on blind dogs, to welcome new students, honor unseen staff. They also support projects in Zimbabwe, and host holiday parties at a local Domestic Violence shelter, among others.

Imagine a dozen crew at every school. That’s a hundred per district. They make doing good omni-present at schools, in public, and on news media. That’s already mighty, for uplifting positive spirit in town.

Lulu has published two books, on PhilanthroParties and the Curriculum, a must for every school and library.

Then, using YL’s resources and methods, one can add countless activities, petitions and campaigns to their stands, turning each stand into a ‘micro fair’ for positive change! BINGO!!

Bart Somers, ‘World’s Best Mayor’

turned Mechelen, Belgium’s worst town, into its most vibrant.

As an independent, with common sense, he did things different from polarized parties. In response to escalating theft and violence, he established zero tolerance on crime, police presence, CCTV surveillance. He also started social programs in neighborhoods, and a rich cultural calendar of no less than 200 fests in town!

Somers combined ‘right’ and ‘left’ approaches for something holistic. No more split-brain, and the results are more than the sum of its parts. One result : from all Belgian cities, fanatics streamed to Syria to commit genocide. From Mechelen, not one.

His creative, no nonsense approach works. The other one-dimensional ones, fail. Then again, that’s only the basics for a merely surviving unsustainable society. A basis on which one can build the real thing.

Two complementary approaches.

  1. Mechelen would benefit from youth leadership
  2. Youth leaders will benefit from teaming up with city councillors. And teachers, journalists and librarians

So far, teen hero*ines get in friendly touch with them during their campaigns … but they do not sit down to join ranks and consciously combine their superpowers. Also, they are not aware of each other’s superpowers.

That is why we encourage our youth crews, and each of you caring citizens to browse the pages of other Adult Allies, and key professionals.

It’s not about designing campaigns together. YOU MUST NOT, except on demand. Teen change-makers must stay 100% independent, and 100% free from narrow, rigid roadmaps, timemaps, goals, obligations or expectations. Free to play so to say.

Crisis in FRANCE

Left and right Bad Governance have led to escalating erosion of peace, respect of country, constitution, culture and law, gang violence, police frustration and police suicides (view 2019 arte tv docu, english subtitles) resulting in up to 50% police and public servants trending to trying something different and voting “extreme right”.

The proper "extremely new" model is to use

  1. Bart’s combo of conventional approaches
  2. massive boost for full scale youth leadership
  3. 70+ model solutions for Paradise City that is also sovereign, sustainable, resilient to climate crisis

This restores

  • positive vision
  • co-creative citizenry
  • good ambience in town
  • trust – among youth, among citizens, among generations

Note how french parents and teachers still focus on authority whereas Scandinavian societies’ teachers see students as friends. 

Non-violence in childhood

is key to lifelong peace and all else.

Since Western Europe started on its path of humanism 250 years ago, it has pooped out totalitarian religion, monarchy and fascism.

Studies show that as childhood violence decreased, peace, gender equality, active citizenship and collaborative economy have been thriving – and Scandinavia leads in every respect; they started with non-violence earlier.

Many other regions’ populations have not even begun walking this path (of Humanism).

According to the Department of Public Health in Alexandria, 1 in 4 children in Egypt suffer from lifelong disability, broken bones or concussion by “parental discipline”. All very “religious” people, of course, lol. (Grille, page 143)

The violence starts in the family, and stress cortisol levels in the brain inhibit evolution of the 10 empathy centres.

Must-read : Robin Grille “Parenting For A Peaceful World”

Societies are defined by the inner alchemy of their inhabitants.

If you want to achieve a peaceful, collaborative, economically prosperous society, any traits of parental violence must disappear, no matter what bullshit reason.

If you want a totalitarian, violent society, then sustain and nurture violence in the family, towards women, and children, and keep cortisol levels high.

It’s your choice.

P.S. Societies of the latter model will disappear latest in the climate crisis. Earth will no longer put up with them.

When Teens turn Twens.

The next species of ‘Political Representatives’

convening for co-creative decision-making for the common greater good of all (democracy) including plant and animal realms, and future generations

… is emerging from teenage changemakers that decide to run for political office, with 100% integrity, using the face2face approach they know from honest campaigning for people and planet. One such example is Chloe Maxmin.

We all have an idea of a Good Teacher. Many citizens in her district have just made the experience of a Good State Representative, and have elected her with record margins. Stations ran out of ballots. It is the first time in the history of this rural, left behind district that people voted someone of this party into office.

To those that have seen Chloe set records since early teenage days, it does not come as a surprise; each time we see her wield magic, we go study, listen, learn … because it’s about new heart, and new thinking, no more human as usual, and first here, then everywhere. Now grab a cup of tea, sit back, and learn :

A few months later, a Green New Deal for the working class population of Maine was passed by the Senate. Wham!

So, is this worth spending a little time deepening your knowledge?

As a city councillor, the Tutorial teaches you solid basics to get started, It’s part of the Crash Course for Adults. Don’t hesitate to follow up with the other steps, and discover what your fellow citizens can do.

We love helping you make your city awesome, and get some hero*ines on our global map.

Don’t hesitate to give us a call for a video-meeting, or call us in for workshops and a campaign.

Your personal crash course

is free, online, self-paced, and highly entertaining.

It provides insights, ideas, and experience what students and citizens experience. It helps you detect potentials, inspire folks, connect with partners and collaborate in good spirit.

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