Closing: Environmental Youth Forum - RSVP now!
Expressions of interest close 21 June – submit an EOI to save a place for your school!
Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management is inviting schools and students across the Wheatbelt to take part in a new series of Environmental Youth Forums aligning with National Science Week (15 – 23 August), ensuring young people have a genuine voice in the future management of the Avon River Basin.
The forums are a key part of the review of the Regional NRM Plan for the Avon River Basin, which is the first major review since the current strategy was developed more than a decade ago. Alongside extensive landholder surveys conducted last year, and broader community surveys recently supported by our Community Resource Centres across the region, these forums are designed to bring young people directly into the conversation about the future of their environment.
Delivered in partnership with Millennium Kids, the forums will provide students with the opportunity to explore the environmental challenges and opportunities facing the Wheatbelt, while contributing their own ideas, priorities and concerns for the natural capital values of the Avon River Basin.
For the first time in the Regional NRM Plan process, youth perspectives will sit alongside those of farmers, landholders, industry groups, researchers and community organisations, recognising that today’s young people will inherit both the challenges and the responsibilities of the region’s landscapes and waterways.
Millennium Kids has spent decades empowering young people across Western Australia to become environmental leaders and changemakers through practical, community-based action projects. Since 1996, the organisation has worked with thousands of young people to develop solutions around water, biodiversity, climate change, waste and sustainable living.
Importantly, the organisation brings significant experience in youth participation and deliberative democracy; a process that gives people the opportunity to listen, learn, discuss complex issues and work together toward informed recommendations.
This same philosophy will underpin the Wheatbelt Environmental Youth Forums.
Rather than simply presenting information to students, the forums are designed to encourage active participation, collaborative problem-solving and genuine discussion around the future of the Wheatbelt environment. Students will be asked questions such as:
What does a healthy and thriving Wheatbelt look like by 2070?
What environmental issues matter most to young people?
How can communities balance productive agriculture with healthy landscapes and waterways?
What role should young people play in shaping future environmental decisions?
By involving young people early, Wheatbelt NRM hopes to build stronger community ownership of the Regional NRM Plan while encouraging the next generation of environmental leaders, land managers and community advocates.
The forums will also provide an opportunity for schools to engage students with strong interests in science, sustainability, agriculture, leadership and community development.
Forum Dates and Locations
Wheatbelt NRM’s Environmental Youth Forums will be delivered across several Wheatbelt locations starting on National Science Week (15-23 August), bringing together students from across the Avon River Basin in a collaborative and interactive setting.
Schools, parents and community stakeholders are encouraged to spread the links below and enter an Expression of Interest for their school (or homeschool group) by 21 June.
The dates and locations of the four forums include:
Southern Cross - Tuesday 18 August
Merredin - Thursday 20 August
Northam - Tuesday 25 August
Lake Grace - Thursday 27 August
Submit an Expression of Interest now!
Venue announcements and registration details will be sent out after this EOI process.
To learn more about the Regional NRM Plan review, visit Wheatbelt NRM – Regional NRM Plan Review.
To learn more about Millennium Kids and their youth-led environmental programs, visit Millennium Kids.
Published eNews #415, June 2026