In this workshop we will explore what resilience is and show that far from just a quality of individuals, resilience is also a reflection of a community’s capacity to provide the resources young people need to be resilient. Strategies for how we can help young people access these resources will also be discussed. The strategies presented will be strengths-focused, resistance-proof, and draw on the capacity of young people’s friends, family, teachers and community as potential sources of support.     

              

Participants will learn how communities can identify and encourage seven factors associated with resilience: supportive  relationships; a powerful identity; a sense of personal control, agency and power; social justice and fair treatment; access to basic material needs; belonging, purpose, and spirituality; and  cultural rootedness.

 

Participants will also have an opportunity to talk about examples of effective practices already in place in their communities, and find solutions for young people who have yet to be engaged. The core principles of the approach, navigation and negotiation, will be discussed in relation to several service design principles that combine the best of what we know works.

 

Several themes will also be discussed with regard to the design of community-based practices, including coordination of services across “silos”, continuity of interventions over time, the need for cultural sensitivity, and how interventions can show they are effective in order to sustain their funding.