Millennium Kids is an international

youth empowerment Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciou ...

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

organization based in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

with affiliates in Canada, South Africa and other countries.

History

Millennium Kids was founded by four twelve-year-olds in 1996. A small group of Western Australian students attended the United Nations ‘Leave It To Us’ environmental conference for children in the United Kingdom (UK). Upon their return, they were disappointed with the level of youth involvement in local environment issues and decided to develop their own environmental conference, "Kids Helping Kids", with support of Perth Zoo, Department of Environment, Clean Up Australia, CALM and the City of South Perth. Following this, they founded Millennium Kids. In 2000, they presented a series of "environmental challenges" to Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes, who tabled them at Parliament. In 2012, the Western Australia Headquarters was based in the Old Fremantle Prison. The group works with schools to arrange environmental and

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

education, connecting pupils and teachers with local community groups. In 2014, the group organised projects to clean up the Swan River.

Organisation

Millennium Kids is a registered charity with affiliates in Canada and South Africa, and has collaborative links in Indonesia, China and Malaysia. The organization is run by children aged 10-25 years old and is supported by educators, mentors, and sponsors. In 2014 the president was Rachael Cochrain. Millennium Kids is directed by a Youth Board, with fifteen members aged between 10 and 25 years. It is supported by the United Nations Environment Program Agenda 21, Chapter 25 Declaration which states that "national governments should pay more attention to the opinions and concerns of children regarding the environment’ and how it should be managed for future generations".

Canada

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, as a not-for-profit organisation, Millennium Kids facilitates many environmental activities across

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

(from

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, to

Kitchener-Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...

). A youth board is present in Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo, as well as a chapter starting up in 2006 through the school system in Toronto, Ontario. The youth board decides on what initiatives will be taken upon the year. Among the activities, the Car Free Festival are planned as initiatives in cooperation with other environmental/youth empowerment organisations that reside in the respective area of the initiative.

References

External links

Millennium Kids HQ AustraliaMillennium Kids Canada
Non-profit organisations based in Western Australia Youth empowerment organizations Organizations established in 1996 Environmental charities based in Australia {{youth-org-stub