Discover Your Future

CUC Far West worked collaboratively with local youth to facilitate an interactive networking event, ‘Discover Your Future’ (DYF) in May 2022. Preceding the development of DYF, CUC Far West staff attended the ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Summit in 2021, where local youth presented a concept to increase youth access and exposure to local industries and to nurture the aspirations of young people. The group advocated for a platform to connect with a diverse range of professionals to share their experiences navigating careers and education pathways.

DYF was delivered over a single day; approximately 150 students from years 10-12 engaged with industry-focused activities and discussions with over 30 professionals across 15 local organisations. The substantial industry participation emerged through a robust community engagement strategy that highlighted the mutually beneficial partnerships between young people, education stakeholders, and local industry. Subsequently, industry partners viewed the project as a creative contribution to the community’s workforce development and youth retention strategies. One local professional stated, “The event was extremely well executed. The DYF event engaged young people in a variety of interesting and exciting ways which kept the energy levels of the participants high and created an opportunity for more open dialogue during the career engagement section of the session.”

Positively, almost 80% of students stated they had learned about new careers that they had not considered before, and 88% said they feel they have multiple career options to choose from once they finish school. CUC Far West continues to consult with youth in identifying and developing programs that aim to build the aspirations of RRR people. Additionally, DYF moved to be a springboard for further collaborative efforts of the Far West community to support young people through increasing exposure and engagement with potential employment and education opportunities and pathways. Finally, DYF’s success demonstrates the importance of a program model that places young people and the community at the centre of career education.

Highly Commended 2022 Category: Community Centric Award
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