Rangatahi Opportunity Project - Moving towards the case for change | Te whakawhanake i ngā kaupapa rangatahi
The Rangatahi Opportunity Project is moving into the co-design phase where we identify and support potential breakthrough.
The Rangatahi Opportunity project is the first significant deployment of our operating model - combining available data and qualitative insights, from work undertaken by Te Ngira, as well as the lived experiences of rangatahi to build insights into the root causes influencing rangatahi wellbeing in the Waikato. The aim of our kaupapa is to develop actions and initiatives that have been developed, as a collective, with rangatahi leading the way! The illustration above was developed by Kavita Singh, a rangatahi local illustrator and community wellbeing advisor.
As part of our mahi we wanted to gain a deeper understanding of:
· Why and where are our rangatahi experiencing barriers to successfully transition from education to further study, employment and/or training?
· Where should our collective energies be focused to make the greatest impact for our rangatahi?
· What solutions or ideas would make the greatest difference to our rangatahi and their whānau?
· How might we involve whānau, rangatahi and employers to create insight and breakthrough?
· How might we collaborate with young people, whānau, schools, the community and each other to identify which initiatives to scale for impact that lead to our rangatahi being on a positive pathway to have many life options?
Our areas of focus are “Creating a sense of belonging for rangatahi” and “Ensuring rangatahi feel prepared for life after school”
Throughout our mahi we have engaged and sought input from a range of collaborators working within the Youth Sector. These have been through;
· Initial sector wide hui on 19th November 2019 with 60+ attendees
· Empathy Interviews with 19 “Advisors” working directly with rangatahi
· Online “Shares” of which we’ve had a total of 250 attendees
· Co Design Hui to hear from our rangatahi.
We had an amazing first co-design in May, with our fantastic collaborators who came together to identify tangible initiatives and actions. It was great to have over 50 people attend and contribute.
A short video from the hui can be seen here:
Participants at the Co-Design Hui 19 May (Photo credit LHS: Sally Birch, Smart Waikato)
More recently the team have been hearing from rangatahi at He Puaawai, Melville High School, Fairfield College and Western Community Centre. We're hearing a great deal of ideas around the need for kaiārahi to guide and support rangatahi through their journey, stronger access to the real world of work as well as being able to see Te Ao Māori reflected across education, employment and within the community.
Using a co-design process, the project is now working with and supporting rangatahi to identify new and/or scaled up existing innovations which might achieve breakthrough and change. These will be captured in a case for change.
We’ll be holding our Kōhanga Taniwha in September where we’ll present a case for change as well as seek support for the collaborative initiatives developed with our rangatahi.
The case for change aims to capture our journey across Phase One of the Rangatahi Opportunity Project. This is an opportunity to capture key data and insights to help inform existing efforts and identify potential new opportunities. However it is not a silver bullet and we expect it to generate additional areas for insight and innovation beyond the initial phase. The case for change acts as a living document that captures data, insights, rangatahi voices as well as communicate the initiatives/actions identified across the project to achieve our vision.
We want the case for change to be fully supported and validated by our collaborators actively engaging with rangatahi. Starting in late July we will seek and identify potential collaborators and supporters to review, input and validate the case for change as well as to make direct contributions to its content. The objective is to make sure that the case is representative of what’s needed in the sector for systems change, and how to make it happen.
Want to learn more about how you can be involved as a collaborator or supporter? Email the team (rangatahi@waikatowellbeingproject.com)
