On December 2 the Countryside Jobs Service published a number of articles focusing on building the next generation of environmental leaders.

There are a number of inspirational articles and Case Studies within the December Focus including Young people shaping the State of Nature Report 2019, John Muir Trust and Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park partnership supporting people’s engagement
with nature and the campaign to get children across the UK spending a million more hours in nature.

Included is a piece from Ea O’Neill, greenspace scotland Programme Manager entitled "What is Young Placechangers?". This gives details of the Young Placechangers project. 

Highlighting the Young Placechangers approach Ea explains how the Young Placechangers programme works:

Young people are almost invisible in the Public Realm and are a missing voice in local place consultations. They are frequently described as a 'problem' by the wider community and the answer to the perceived threat of young people 'hanging around' is too often to restrict their  access. 

The programme empowers young people to take the lead in changing places where they live. The residential training weekends, bespoke training sessions and support from the Young Placechangers team are designed to give the young people and the adults that support them the skills and confidence to change the places where they live for the better.

Read the full CJS Focus on the Next Generation