Monday, March 30, 2015

Youth Heritage Forum 2015 - A Review

If you plan it, they will come... and so they did! Sixty enthusiastic youth participants joined us on March 7th, 2015 for the first ever Youth Heritage Forum, a fun and exciting day was had by all! Our mission was to give young people engaged in heritage a voice and our participants took that opportunity and ran with it. This is the first time youth from across the province have been provided the opportunity to come together and discuss their role in the heritage sector and they were not about to let that opportunity pass them by. Throughout the day participants discussed why young people are integral to the future of heritage what heritage organizations should do to become youth inclusive.

Participants were treated to an amazing drum and dance ceremony from First Nations Eastern Owl Women's Drum Group to get the day started on an inspiring and energetic note! We then had the pleasure of hearing from our guest panel consisting of six talented and inspiring young women who spoke about their work in the heritage sector, and then took questions from the crowd. You can read about about our guest panelists and listen to their discussion here!

The second part of the day consisted of a breakout session where our participants had the opportunity to get to know each other and discuss the questions at hand when it comes to youth involvement in heritage. One topic we focused on was recommendations for heritage organizations in becoming youth inclusive, it was an engaging conversation and some great ideas were brought to the table.
  
6 Ways to Make Your Heritage Organization Youth Inclusive:
  • Create Meaningful Opportunities for Youth
  • Focus on Funding for Youth Employment
  • Use 'Youth Friendly' Channels of Communication
  • Be Accessible
  • Be Open to New Ideas and Practices
  • Be Social
To download the full Youth Heritage Forum report, including a full list of recommendations click here!



As the forum wrapped up our participants were still full of energy and curious as to what the group could do next. They decided the first step was to create an outlet to stay connected, share advice, and discuss future opportunities. Interested youth can now join Youth Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador on Facebook to connect with like minded youth from across the province.

And just like that my time as Youth Heritage Forum Coordinator has come and gone! It was a pleasure to be part of the Heritage Foundation of NL team and I had a fantastic time putting together the forum, and an even better time meeting all of the participants! As a young person working in the heritage sector myself, I am incredibly inspired by the enthusiasm and dedication of my peers. I can wait to see what's next for Youth Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador!

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