intrepid landcare general overview_v2

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An adventurous way forward to inspire young Australians to connect with their local communities and protect the environment. We present Intrepid Landcare, a national network of dedicated creative youth movements working in the space of environmental conservation. Co-founded by National Young Landcare Ambassadors Megan Rowlatt and Naomi Edwards, Intrepid Landcare aims to provide a common space to connect, inspire and empower young Australians to join local environmental initiatives in their communities and across the world. The concept builds on the highly successful Illawarra and Gold Coast Intrepid Landcare models, which are carving futures for young people across the Illawarra and Gold Coast regions to get involved in Landcare and other environmental initiatives that are appealing to the youth of today. Intrepid Landcare pushes the boundaries of the traditional Landcare model in Australia and has evolved into a highly dynamic, multifaceted initiative that embraces the energy, passion and creativity of young people in communities across Australia. By focusing on equipping young Australians with the right knowledge and experiences they can contribute, drive and lead environmental initiatives that are relevant and interesting to them. We believe now is the time to embrace a way forward to inspire young Australians to connect with their local communities and protect the environment. We look forward to working with you to co-create Intrepid Landcare, and the next generation of change-makers passionate about the environment. The future is in our hands, Megan Rowla & Naomi Edwards National Young Landcare Ambassadors Who is Megan Rowlatt? Megan Rowlatt is a highly energetic, fun loving, inspiring young Landcare leader from Wollongong, NSW Australia. She has been a member of the Landcare movement since 2008, and in 2009 she set up Illawarra Youth Landcare, now Illawarra Intrepid Landcare to address the issue of a lack of young recruitment in Landcare. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecotourism and is passionate about sustainable travel and recreation on a global scale, and inspiring the Australian public to look after our unique natural environment through Landcare. In 2011 she was recognised for her outstanding efforts in youth engagement and was awarded NSW Young Landcare Leader of the year, and then in 2012 she was recognised at a national level as the National Young Landcare leader of the year. Who is Naomi Edwards? Naomi Edwards is an infectiously inspiring community mobiliser from the Gold Coast, QLD Australia. She has been a member of the Landcare movement since 2006, and similar to Megan was instrumental in establishing youth opportunities for her friends and fellow students to get involved in Landcare. She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science, Bachelor of Communications (Hons), Masters of International and Community Development and is a leader for sustainability graduate from the United Nations University, and is on the PhD journey to discover the happiness of beaches. She is passionate about inspiring change makers to be organised and embrace creativity in the way we engage the public in environmental initiatives. Megan Rowla & Naomi Edwards , The Spit, Gold Coast

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Page 1: Intrepid Landcare general overview_v2

An adventurous way forward to inspire young Australians to connect with their local communities and protect the environment.

We present Intrepid Landcare, a national network of dedicated creative youth movements working in the space of environmental conservation.

Co-founded by National Young Landcare Ambassadors Megan Rowlatt and Naomi Edwards, Intrepid Landcare aims to provide a common space to connect, inspire and empower young Australians to join local environmental initiatives in their communities and across the world.

The concept builds on the highly successful Illawarra and Gold Coast Intrepid Landcare models, which are carving futures for young people across the Illawarra and Gold Coast regions to get involved in Landcare and other environmental initiatives that are appealing to the youth of today.

Intrepid Landcare pushes the boundaries of the traditional Landcare model in Australia and has evolved into a highly dynamic, multifaceted initiative that embraces the energy, passion and creativity of young people in communities across Australia. By focusing on equipping young Australians with the right knowledge and experiences they can contribute, drive and lead environmental initiatives that are relevant and interesting to them.

We believe now is the time to embrace a way forward to inspire young Australians to connect with their local communities and protect the environment. We look forward to working with you to co-create Intrepid Landcare, and the next generation of change-makers passionate about the environment.

The future is in our hands,

Megan Rowlatt & Naomi Edwards National Young Landcare Ambassadors

Who is Megan Rowlatt? Megan Rowlatt is a highly energetic, fun loving, inspiring young Landcare leader from Wollongong, NSW Australia. She has been a member of the Landcare movement since 2008, and in 2009 she set up Illawarra Youth Landcare, now Illawarra Intrepid Landcare to address the issue of a lack of young recruitment in Landcare. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecotourism and is passionate about sustainable travel and recreation on a global scale, and inspiring the Australian public to look after our unique natural environment through Landcare. In 2011 she was recognised for her outstanding efforts in youth engagement and was awarded NSW Young Landcare Leader of the year, and then in 2012 she was recognised at a national level as the National Young Landcare leader of the year.

Who is Naomi Edwards? Naomi Edwards is an infectiously inspiring community mobiliser from the Gold Coast, QLD Australia. She has been a member of the Landcare movement since 2006, and similar to Megan was instrumental in establishing youth opportunities for her friends and fellow students to get involved in Landcare. She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science, Bachelor of Communications (Hons), Masters of International and Community Development and is a leader for sustainability graduate from the United Nations University, and is on the PhD journey to discover the happiness of beaches. She is passionate about inspiring change makers to be organised and embrace creativity in the way we engage the public in environmental initiatives.

Megan Rowlatt &Naomi Edwards , The Spit, Gold Coast

Page 2: Intrepid Landcare general overview_v2

The Landcare movement in Australia has been lacking a youth engagement model since its inception. Although the success of the Junior Landcare program sees young Australians in primary and early secondary education embrace school sustainability and environmental activities, there is no existing overarching program that engages post high school to thirty something Australians into the Landcare movement. This demographic is heavily under-engaged in Landcare, and this led to us questioning, what is Landcare to young people and why are they not involved?

Recent survey results show that the top reasons why young people aged 12-36 thought other young people were not involved in Landcare was because 1. They were not aware of what Landcare was; 2. They were not aware of Landcare opportunities in their community; 3. They were not motivated and 4. No-body has asked them to join. University students that we came across at open days where we had a display did not know what the brand stood for only that they recognised the logo – the caring hands.

But we know, because we live and breathe Landcare, that Landcare as a brand, as a community network, as a coastal, rural or urban group, has evolved since it was initiated in a farming community back in 1989. And it will continue to evolve as a grassroots movement to address the needs of communities and to address local environmental issues regions are facing. It has the potential to keep up with the best science available to implement best environmental management practices and create innovative techniques to improve our environment while connect communities and enhance social and cultural values. So what does this mean for the future of Landcare and the next generation? It means we have the flexibility to create opportunities for young people to develop and drive what their vision of Landcare is in different communities, regions and countries.

We are currently working on attracting investment to support Intrepid Landcare as a national strategy for youth engagement into environmental initiatives, with Landcare as the key platform to do this.

Why is this important? As National Young Landcare Ambassadors we believe the youth of today need to discover and lead a life filled with passion and purpose, belong to a community and act on what they believe is important to them.

Then there are the scary statistics of youth concerns and environmental destruction, issues that need to be carefully supported. For us, our experiences in Landcare have transformed our worlds where sustainability isn’t just talked about, sustainability is our world, and we’ve created a supportive community around us to be leaders who take a stand on what matters to us. Whether it’s clean oceans, beaches and waterways, biodiversity, clean eating, health and fitness and mental health and wellbeing, Landcare has provided a platform for us to be healthy and happy young Australians – we just need more young Australians to experience this, which is exactly what Intrepid Landcare is all about.

With adequate funding we can co-create and launch a national Intrepid Landcare network to provide leadership opportunities for young people in communities across the nation. We are looking to partner with organisations who share our vision for a healthy environment and happy people. And it starts with investing in our youth.

We are also working on pulling together a team of youth leaders from a diversity of fields from across the nation. We are looking to work with young vibrant passionate professionals who have expertise in a number of key areas to contribute to the development of Intrepid Landcare programs which will benefit youth in a diversity of communities across the country. We are seeking expertise in the following areas (but certainly not limited to): Indigenous youth engagement, Clean coast initiatives, Sustainable food production and permaculture, Young farmer engagement, Sustainable living, Health and safety, Personal health and wellbeing, Environmental restoration and ecology, and Outdoor recreation and ecotourism.

If you are interested in joining the Intrepid Landcare team, talk to us today!

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With adequate support Intrepid Landcare has the potential to educate, enable and inspire young people in communities to contribute to environmental volunteer opportunities all over Australia and the world.With our partners, we will provide a platform to promote all environmental volunteer opportunities for young people across Australia.

Through our Intrepid Landcare Leadership retreats, workshops and resources we aim to build the capacity of local and regional Landcare networks and young people in communities across Australia to harness their passion for the environment, connect youth with local and national environmental mentors, and help identify local on-ground projects that they can contribute to in their local area.We also offer the assistance to help set up a sustainable on-going local support network for young people and offer coaching services to young leaders to drive local projects and initiatives in their communities.

Through our strong online presence, we aim to be a conduit for all things youth and environment, where we can share inspiring stories from the field, connect young people to other young people, profile inspiring leaders from communities across the nation, and provide educational information to help grow awareness about the issues we are facing.

Intrepid Landcare is not a top down approach, rather an organic bottom up approach, which trusts the creativity, intelligence, and passion of young people across Australia and the ability of local communities to support young people within their existing networks.It allows for creative development and leadership of young people, with young people, and with the support of experienced mentors in their area of interest.

In 2009, Megan established the now Intrepid Landcare brand in her community, which has since created inspiration in other communities and universities across Australia. In early 2015, Naomi acquired sponsorship to facilitate a Landcare Leadership Retreat for young people on the Gold Coast. This enabled Megan and Naomi to connect and co-create an inspiring weekend for local youth who are passionate about creating change in their community and for the environment. This led to the establishment of Gold Coast Intrepid Landcare with the support of a small grant from Landcare Australia and Neutrogena Naturals. Since then there has been a growing interest for Megan and Naomi to co-lead retreats and workshops in other communities to help kick-start more Intrepid Landcare groups.

We have also kick-started an international Intrepid Landcare experience to Thailand in December 2015 and currently building a national brand and network of change makers to embrace this transformational youth engagement model.

On the Gold Coast, key outcomes from the leadership retreat include student-led school Landcare projects, the founding of Responsible Divers, support for Youth 4 Beaches and a collective of inspiring environmental leaders.

While in the Illawarra, the University of Wollongong has embraced the call to action and established their own university Landcare club - UOW Intrepid Landcare. With Brisbane, Sydney and other communities and universities seeking our support we are seeking investment, and looking to partner with many groups and organisations to create the best opportunities for the next generation, and ensure the future of our environment is in good hands.

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For more information please connect with us

[email protected]

facebook.com/landcareintrepid

@intrepdlandcare

@intrepidlandcare

#younglandcare