Photo: Jade Short (right) from Soulcube (with business partner Maxwell Arch) is leading the Youth APPrentice development workshops program in Bega and Eden starting in November.
3 November 2022
Young people keen to be better connected across the Bega Valley are invited to a series of free workshops to design a prototype for an app for teenagers and young adults.
Council’s Youth Resilience Officer, Cal Champagne said the six-week Youth APPrentice workshop program will appeal to young people interested in digital art, coding and integrating technology into everyday life.
Cal said participants will be part of honouring and building on the ideas and enthusiasm expressed at the Bega Valley Youth Forum in May 2022 and the subsequent Future Shapers program.
“A recurring theme at the Youth Forum was that young people are missing out on hearing about upcoming opportunities such as jobs, events or learning experiences,” Cal said.
“The ways in which we as a community are trying to engage with young people are clearly missing the mark. At the same time, teenagers and young adults have a strong desire to connect with other Bega Valley youth outside their immediate school and social networks.”
Cal said the connection challenge was taken on by a small group of participants at the Future Shapers camp held in July. The group pitched the idea of developing an app for Bega Valley youth that would connect them to opportunities, information and other young people.
He said the creation of a fully-fledged app was a significant undertaking.
“We’re initially going to develop a prototype with all the basic functions of a complete app and access will be restricted to keep the user base small and specific,” Cal said.
“If the prototype gets the thumbs up after the testing phase, it will be well positioned for someone to take it on, source funding and develop it into a genuine app that can be used by all young people in our community.
“It’s important this prototype is designed by young people, for young people, so we’re inviting any young person who is interested in being part of this project to sign up for their choice of two workshop programs starting in mid-November in either Bega or Eden.”
The workshops for 12-24-year-olds will be run by Jade Short from Soulcube, a local youth-operated business dedicated to game development and sharing development knowledge with rural and regional Australia.
Jade says the workshops will provide young people with basic app development skills, which he says involves more than just coding.
“We need artists, coders, thinkers, tinkerers, or people who just love to have a go at things – no prior experience needed,” Jade said.
The workshops will be held from 4pm to 6pm beginning Wednesday 16 November in Eden at Campbell Page Youth Space and in Bega from Thursday 17 November at Funhouse Studio, Bega. Equipment and food will be provided.
