Young people are leading the way for change when it comes to social, environmental, and climate action, yet they are still vastly underrepresented when it comes to positions of power, especially within organizations engaged in sustainability work. The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) recognizes the importance of creating and sharing spaces for youth to be involved in conversations around some of the biggest challenges we all collectively face, and youth stand to inherit – topics such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and inadequate community resilience.
To ensure that FBC’s impact reflects and is inclusive of youth voices, FBC has an appointed youth director on our Board to braid youth perspectives into our decision-making processes.
Our Youth Program initiatives are actively informed and shaped by our Youth Advisory Committee.
About the Youth Advisory Committee
The FBC Youth Advisory Committee is composed of up to 16 youth (aged 16-30) living across BC, who are a voice for youth in their communities on sustainability and climate change issues. Committee members share their unique insights into key sustainability and climate priorities facing their regions and can identify ideas for projects they would like to see FBC initiate that address those specific challenges.
The Committee’s high-level input will shape FBC Youth Program initiatives to better serve youth across the province. Committee members also support fellow youth in implementing exciting sustainability initiatives and in fostering their practical skills and confidence to act on pressing issues in their communities.
The Youth Advisory Committee is one way FBC hopes to build our capacity to work collaboratively alongside youth in BC, as well as to combat the prevalence of youth input not being sought out or genuinely valued on issues that directly affect them.
The Committee serves a one year term and meets online approximately once every two months for 2 hours. Occasionally there may be minor tasks to be completed in between meetings which may take up to an additional 2 hours. Committee members participate on a voluntary basis.
Youth Advisory Committee members meet bimonthly to:
- Collaborate and have fun with other passionate, impact-driven youth from all over the province
- Help plan exciting sustainability initiatives for fellow youth that make a positive impact locally, regionally, and provincially
- Network and learn from sustainability and climate leaders working in civil society, business, and different levels of government
- Gain and strengthen leadership and governance skills by helping to steer the future of FBC Youth programming