The Big Walk will provide a great opportunity to uncover insights and learnings about the challenges and opportunities today’s youth face in New Zealand.

By the end of the journey, up to 150 young people will have undergone a unique journey of reflection and development. By tapping into their personal experiences we can indentify the ‘critical factors for success’ for supporting and developing youth within New Zealand. This should provide significant value to both policy-makers and local community leaders.

During The Big Walk

Whether specific challenges or everyday life itself, understanding a logical pathway to success, plus managing the emotional growth and challenges that occur are the keys to building positive momentum into anyone’s lifestyle.

With each ‘leg’ of this campaign lasting between four-five days for the participating young people, a process called ‘Edge of Stretch’ will be used to shape conversations, and help students decide how they will meet the challenges that are put in front of them.

The leg length and geography will be different in each region (up to 100km), and the ‘mini-challenge’ or adventure that is set for the participants will vary (decided and prepared by professional wilderness facilitators).

The ‘experiential-learning’ that is pivotal to all FYD programmes will be the core to each leg of The Big Walk.

After the Big Walk

Following The Big Walk, a one-day workshop designed and facilitated by ON-Brand Partners, will take place with every participant of the journey.

The event will:

• Reinforce key principles of the development process for the young people involved. Any effective initiative must have a focus on ongoing support – this workshop will help to develop this
• Analyse the personal experiences of the participants during The Big Walk to uncover critical factors for success, which can be applied to future youth development activities
• Identify opportunities and challenges for ‘policy-makers’ and ‘local community leaders’, to create support mechanisms and strategies that will maximise success in youth development
• Build a sense of community and connection amongst all participants

Process:

• Use leading-edge techniques for discovery and analysis
• Capture real stories, experiences and insights – based upon what has worked for these young people