Providing a Voice for Young People at the 2025 National Landcare Conference
The NextGen Landcare Summit was a highly collaborative youth-focused event held at the 2025 National Landcare Conference on the Gold Coast to celebrate and inspire young Landcarers, boost engagement and succession, build community and learn from peers and mentors.
Capacity building - LEP025_LLCYA_004
The issue
Succession and engaging young people in Landcare are an issue nationally for the movement, and at the forefront of this issue is the lack of support, empowerment and representation for the younger generation in broader conversations. Other factors surrounding young people are eco-anxiety, lack of community and disconnect, inclusion and representation, financial barriers, lack of opportunities, confusing career paths and lack of knowledge or pathways to certain roles, volunteer burnout and overwhelm, and acknowledgement to name a few. This variety of factors have proven that the issue is highly multifaceted and not a one-solution fix, and that a multidisciplinary approach is needed to start solving some of these issues.
The solution
In early 2025, Landcare Australia brought together a committee of experienced and passionate young Landcarers from across Australia to ideate and deliver the NextGen Landcare Summit that aimed to provide a voice for all the NextGen Landcarers on the national stage. Throughout the year, the committee came together on numerous occasions to flesh out the above issues and how a day long forum could bring young people together to discuss them, and then provide solutions or ideas together while also connecting and inspiring each other. This resulted in creating a 6-hour long day of inspiring stories, panels, Q&As and collaborative activities for young people from across the country to connect, network and create together, while also creating it a free and accessible opportunity to attend.
The impact
The NextGen Landcare Summit kicked off Day 1 of the conference and brought together a team of 7 passionate young Landcarers onto the committee, and 10 additional speakers who were all supported to attend the summit in person. The day brought together over 160 young adults and supporters in attendance, and the energy from the day was hopeful, bold and full of ideas being an excellent reminder of what happens when young people are given the space to connect, share and lead. In addition to the summit day, the committee members were provided an opportunity to speak on a panel to close the conference in front of over 600 attendees and emphasise points made and raised on the summit day, in hopes of a more age-inclusive Landcare future, representing a voice for all young people in this sector.
Key facts
- 7 Young adult Landcarers from across Australia worked together to create and lead the NextGen Landcare Summit 2025.
- A total of 17 young adults presented and spoke on the day, leading talks on their work, participating in Q&As and leading collaborative workshops.
- Approx. 160 people attended the NextGen Landcare Summit, and a selected group presented the issues and findings to the rest of the conference in front of 600 people.