Join the squad.
Riverland Skillin' It (working title*) is a community-based and locally-driven initiative to nurture a culture of skills and knowledge-sharing led by local young people for young people, and to build foundation small business skills in a lead cohort of young people (the squad).
Between January and August 2021 the selected squad will receive mentoring, support and training to create a small digital knowledge bank and a mini skills-sharing festival.
The squad will be paid for their time (as freelancers based on negotiated hours) to deliver the project.
To apply to be one of the five selected squad you must meet the following criteria:
- Be aged 18-26 as of 1st November 2020
- Be currently living in any Riverland town
- Be committed to learning, collaborating and delivering the project as a whole
We want to hear from young people from a wide variety of backgrounds, life experiences and interests. Artists, writers, storytellers, graphic designers, teachers, facilitators, tradies, health care workers, farmers, sportspeople, managers, long-term unemployed, lost or exploring and everyone in between. You do NOT need to have previous experience in any particular area. We are looking for people with ideas, enthusiasm and a willingness to have a go. This project will be what you make and we are here to help you bring a shared vision to life.
We are especially keen to hear from:
- people that have the desire to continue living in regional communities
- people that have ever felt like they don't quite "fit" (we've been there too!)
- people that are scared of getting involved but hungry to try anyway
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- people who have experienced barriers and challenges because of things they were born with or have limited control over like disability, deafness, sexuality, gender, size, socio-economic background (and anything else not listed that you think qualifies)
APPLICATIONS ORIGINALLY CLOSED MIDNIGHT Friday 18th December and the first round of applicants have been notified. Applications remain open by direct invitation (if someone has given you this link - that is a direct invitation).
*the selected squad will choose a final title for the project.
So how will the project work?
The selected squad will participate in a series of exploratory workshops with mentor Alysha Herrmann in January and February (a commitment of 10hours in total). These exploratory workshops will set the vision for the festival and project overall, negotiate key dates and deliverables for the project and set the squad up for success (including a workshop with a tax accountant for squad to develop small business skills).
Between February and April the squad will work independently to create small online resources sharing their particular area of interest/expertise (for example creating a short YouTube video or a Zoom workshop or a PDF instruction booklet) and then will begin developing the festival outcome across April - August.
Together the Squad will decide an overall vision and theme for the Skillin' It Festival. The Squad will be in charge of the marketing and project plan to deliver the festival and they will be supported by an additional dedicated Festival coordinator (also aged 18-26) to achieve their vision.
Each of the Squad will be responsible for planning and delivering 1 x 1hour workshop themselves within the festival, and inviting 2 x other young people to plan & deliver a workshop in the festival. This will deliver a total of 15 x 1hour youth led workshops. Each of the workshops will be small in scale (pitched for 5-10 participants) and all workshop presenters will be paid for their time.
3 of these workshops will be trialled/presented as tasters in Renmark, Loxton & Waikerie in the lead-up to the final festival of 15 workshops presented in Barmera in July/August 2021. These taster workshops will assist workshop presenters to develop their confidence and act as magnet/promo for the final festival.
All 15 presenters, including the squad, and the festival coordinator will participate in an evaluation/debrief process before the end of August 2021.
Across the project the five squad will have access to ongoing mentoring & support from Alysha in addition to specialised mentoring from outside experts. All squad will have access to a co-working desk at Part of Things in Barmera and most project development will happen from Part of Things, unless otherwise negotiated with the selected squad.