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We acknowledge and respect all Traditional Owners in Gippsland, as the original custodians of their lands and waters, for their enduring caring for Country, and deep spiritual connection. We honour Elders past and present whose understanding and wisdom ensures continued knowledge of culture and practice.
Here Comes the Future is an initiative aimed at creating spaces for young people in Gippsland to find their voice in the conversation around climate adaptation and caring for our living environment.
Our Youth Summits bring together students from Grade 5 to Year 10 with experienced members of their local community. Stories of environmental and climate action are shared, questions are answered, and workshop sessions map out first steps for participation in community projects.
To find out more about Summits that have taken place, visit our Youth Summits page.
To support students and teachers we’ve also gathered a library of links to Resources for learning more about climate adaptation. And our Projects page, linking to adaptation projects from around Gippsland, provides inspiring demonstrations of the power we have have collectively to come together and solve challenges.
When we set up Here Comes the Future in October 2021 our plan was to run a video competition, with the top videos in each age-group (in each of our five categories: Land, Coast & Ocean, Food, Waste and Energy) being screened at the Youth Summit. Emerging out of lockdowns into a year of rapid change was tough on everyone, and that plan just didn’t come together. However, the videos that introduced that competition still give a great overview of the Here Comes the Future project… (see below)
Project presenter Will Tait gives an overview of “Here Comes the Future” touching on how climate change is affecting Gippsland and inviting emerging youth leaders to come up with a climate adaptation idea.
A deeper dive into climate change: how it’s affecting different parts of Gippsland, some of the things that are causing it, and how we can respond with positive action.
Head to the Resources page to learn more.
An inspiration reel: Exciting climate adaptation projects from around Gippsland that demonstrate the power of coming together to solve challenges.
Check out the Projects page for links to these and other exciting projects.
We adapted by shifting our focus. Our Youth Summits became a space for participants to explore the concept of Climate Adaptation, and develop the confidence to share their ideas. We’re now in conversation with our Summit attendees about what Here Comes the Future does next. Maybe a video competition will take off with support from the right partners? Maybe we stick to live events to ignite the spark of collective action? Either way we’d love to hear from you, old or young, if you think you’d like to get involved. We’d also love to hear from any schools who want to incorporate us into their learning activities. Please get in touch via the Contact page to start a conversation with us.
In the meantime our video submission page is still active, so check it out if feel inspired to make your own on-screen shout out and send it through to us!
Here Comes the Future is an RCE Gippsland program. There are 170+ RCEs (Regional Centres of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development) around the world that work with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to help bring about a sustainability and equity future in each of their regions. RCE Gippsland’s mission is to promote the best possible future for Gippsland’s ecology and economy and its diverse communities, with a particular focus on Goal No. 4 Quality Education and Goal No 13 Climate Action. We are very grateful to the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning for providing us with the funding to run this program.
RCE Gippsland is supported by the Gippsland Climate Change Network (GCCN). For more information on RCE Gippsland visit our page on the GCCN website.
"...who knows, your climate adaptation idea may grow into a project that benefits all of Gippsland long into the future!"