Youth Leadership Initiative 

The Youth Leadership Initiative aims to enable young people aged 18-25 to play a pivotal role in shaping food systems, through leadership and collective action with a special focus on national and global decision-making.  

This facilitator handbook is a key resource in this process, offering structured support and inspiration. The handbook provides you with suggested plans and sessions but is designed to be used flexibly, with each facilitator selecting the most relevant exercises for them and adding their own content and expertise, and on the group, context, time and mode of delivery you have available. Activities in this guide are suitable for groups of 20 - 30 young people and can be delivered both online an in person. 

What you’ll find inside 

This handbook contains two sections to provide you with end-to-end support:

1. Community Building

Comprehensive guidance on leading sessions, encouraging active participation, and managing group dynamics. 

Tips for fostering a sense of community where every voice is valued and heard. 

2. Youth leadership towards collective action 

There are three core ingredients: 

Understanding food systems: Ensures the group has a shared understanding of what food systems are and how their work or interests fit within them.

Influence and change in food systems: How policy change is made at a local, regional and global level and the key people that influence change. 

Collective action: Brings to life the skills youth leaders have learnt so far, working as a group to create a campaign that identifies an issue to tackle, people to engage and actions to make it happen together.