Lifehack’s 2016 Flourishing Fellowship open for applications

Monday 9th May

Lifehack’s 2016 Flourishing Fellowship open for applications and nominations

As part of a continued commitment to improving the lives of young New Zealanders, Lifehack is proud to announce the launch of the 2016 Flourishing Fellowship’s application and nomination phase to select participants into the programme.

The Flourishing Fellowship is Lifehack’s latest experiment in utilising tools for social innovation, design and wellbeing science to improve the lives of young kiwis. The three-month part-time programme provides the opportunity for people from different sectors and parts of society to come together to develop new approaches, projects and initiatives, with the needs of young people at the centre of the process.

Nick Laurence, a participant in last year’s Fellowship who runs youth wellbeing organisation Mindfulness for Change, said about the programme: “One of the very cool (and quite unique) things that the Fellowship allowed to happen, and a real strength of the Fellowship framework was a connection with people working in different sectors, with different backgrounds, strengths and perspectives, who were all passionate about making a difference.”

This year’s programme is aimed at individuals working within systems and organisations influencing the lives of young people. These individuals might be working in education, health, justice, community development, social services and wellbeing technology, or other relevant fields.

Toni Reid, Lifehack core team member who is leading the development and implementation of the Fellowship, says: “We designed the Fellowship programme to bring together people of diverse backgrounds, skill sets and geographies for them to feel a sense of agency within their own communities to support the development of approaches that are best suited for their region”.

Over 13 weeks, participants, workshops hosts and facilitators will gather in person three times for hui (in-person gatherings) at retreat locations near Ōtaki. Those will be augmented by online content and learning opportunities which participants complete in their local communities. There will be a focus on building whanaungatanga (the process of becoming family) as a group, inquire into New Zealand’s wicked issues, learn about influencing systems and work on personal wellbeing. It will be an opportunity to up-skill in design and start-up tools like prototyping, and determine the most effective ways to improve youth wellbeing in the communities participants are connected to.

Through activating a diverse cohort of highly skilled wellbeing champions who support one another in their on-going work, the Fellowship looks to build capability and capacity within those people who are actively working on youth-wellbeing-related work in Aoteaora.

Further information about the Flourishing Fellowship can be found on the Lifehack website and the blog announcement. Interested individuals can apply by clicking here. A nomination form can be found here.

ENDS

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