Youth Sustainability Summit Resolutions
This article was first published on July 25th, 2024, and was updated on September 12th, 2024 with additional details from a conversation with County Councilmember Heather Kimball.
We need our youths’ help to make the world a better place. We know from data and conversations that the youth of Hawai‘i are motivated by making a difference for their community and the world. Hands-on work is important, but so is changing laws and attitudes.
Youth voice is crucial for ensuring that the views and perspectives of younger generations are represented in policy decisions that directly impact their lives. Empowering them to participate in shaping laws and regulations not only promotes a more inclusive and democratic society, but also helps build a more sustainable future.
Hawai‘i Sustainability Summit
The Hawai‘i Sustainability Summit held in May 2024 convened local stakeholders to keep driving the county — and the state — into a more sustainable future. Centered on the six Hawaiʻi Sustainability Goals outlined by Hawaiʻi Green Growth and the Aloha+ Challenge, the summit involved middle and high school youth to create actionable plans. Local leaders believe not only in learning what is important to the young people of today, but also sharing in policymaking experiences with the next generation of leaders. Civic education is lacking in the community, so it’s great to see these kinds of opportunities from the Sustainability Summit; we hope they will continue as the new Hawaiʻi County Office of Sustainability gets established.
Working with adult allies and experts, 8th graders from across the island — plus a few older students from elsewhere in the state sharing their advocacy knowledge from visiting the United Nations — learned about the legislative process in their own respective classes before coming together to discuss policy and draft the document below. We are excited to share the policy suggestions that these 80 student advocates identified as most important and impactful in creating a sustainable future.
Copies of the resolutions will be submitted to lawmakers and government leaders throughout the state in the next legislative session. In the meantime, everyone should read them and amplify the message so we can be ready to help the students by testifying in support when the time comes.
Advocacy for everyone
We thank all the young leaders that created and signed this document, and hope that they inspire others to become more involved.
The next legislative session starts in January of next year, so it’s a good time to identify priorities and create a plan to share them with lawmakers. It’s also election season, so young people may be eligible to register to vote. Even if they are not yet old enough, they can go here to look up their legislators and find out how to contact them.
Want to learn more about state-level lawmaking and advocacy? Visit the Public Access Room for tons of information and resources to help people understand and engage with the legislative process in Hawai‘i. They even have a keiki page! You can also sign up for workshops or send them questions.
At the island level, we suggest that youth (or anybody!) get involved in local government by attending county council meetings and communicating with policymakers. There is also a youth commission for young people that can commit to ongoing involvement. The County of Hawai‘i website has information about the different departments and services, including contact information; this page makes it easy to sign up for updates and meeting notices for areas of interest. High school and college aged youth can also contact elected officials and County offices to ask about a project-based internship.
Finally, we encourage adults to provide leadership opportunities for young people, and to support the ideas they have. Where possible, connect youth with resources and networks that can help amplify their voices and ideas. There are many policy and service-focused organizations covering issues that youth may care about. For example, Hawai‘i Public Health Institute advocates for many health-related issues and maintains an active youth component for issues like smoking and food systems. They even wrote an article for us a few years ago. Need help coming up with connections? Contact us!
