Involving Indigenous Young People in Resource Management

A report into the possibility of facilitating Indigenous youth participation and engagement in the area of natural resource management has been released by the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University.

The report looks at the problem of Indigenous unemployment and non-engagement in training and education, not only here in Australia but also in North America, and ways to try and re-engage Indigenous young people. It examines in detail three specific types of engagement operating in Australia:

• junior ranger programs (also called ‘Learning through country’ programs)
• the Indigenous Ranger Cadetship Program for secondary students (starting in 2013)
• the role of the resource extraction industries.

The authors stress that ‘both western science and Indigenous ecological knowledge perspectives are required for effective land management practices by Indigenous people’. They see big opportunities for programs of this type, but also say that Indigenous elders need to be involved for the programs to successfully engage young people.

Anyone working with young Aboriginal people in the area of youth engagement and training for future employment will find this 28-page report interesting reading. It can be downloaded from the Australian Policy Online web page listed below.

http://apo.org.au/research/indigenous-youth-engagement-natural-resource-management-australia-and-north-america-review

(Source: Youth Field Express, November 2012)