Our sense of belonging to a given place, community, or state is something that develops over time and with increasing life experience. Youth and teens often have a limited awareness of local places, community functions, or cultural traditions outside their own. The emerging generation in Oregon has less a sense of belonging to Oregon, less an awareness of our regional traditions, and less engagement in local democratic processes than prior generations.

Classroom curriculum discusses Oregon's history and the stories that can be told about how Oregon came to be. Youth in Oregon may also have learned from their schooling of the bio-diversity and ecological regions that exists in our state. However, youth have typically spent less time in the classroom and or at home discussing the cultural norms that change from county to county, or how to get involved.

There are cultural tensions between urban and rural communities in Oregon and not yet an opportunity to bring youth together from around the state to participate in a statewide event that discusses our identity as Oregonians, or that prepares our young adults to facilitate open discourse at the local level and motivate engagement (service learning or community service) in their community.

More than just addressing culture identity and activism, there are few extra-curricular and summer programs statewide that engage students in the technical aspects of community design and land use planning. Even fewer students have studied the environmental education content involving both our unique Oregon ecology and the regional economies associated with our natural resources.

PROPOSAL

Tsuga Community Commission invites the best community building youth development programs and their participants to join together bringing many of the hands-on components of their various programs, and build them around the idea that youth in Oregon ought to better understand the nuances and interdependence of our diverse communities – to be active participants in them.

All cultural norms from our urban and rural, farming and technology, coastal and high desert, military and civilian, Native American and newcomer, even Ducks and Beavers will all be honored and celebrated while we decide together, as Oregon's next great generation of local leaders what is important to each other, and what we can always celebrate together as a state.

Survey data and a variety of uniquely designed and facilitated summer camp activities allows participants to investigate community design, population, food systems, Oregon geography, land use goals, citizen engagement processes, and our complex biodiversity through a shared lens of each other's sense of belonging to those things – and what we'll all come to know as our shared stories and favorite places.

We'll practice good communication skills and focus on themes like personal outreach and environmental stewardship. TCC staff are excited to facilitate teambuilding and recreation activities that will help us have a very traditional yet unprecedented and impressive week of summer camp, with a strong twist of shared Oregon pride.

The Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association, the University of Oregon Resource Assistance for Rural Environments program, Oregon State University Extension, Multnomah ESD, and other organizations with a statewide perspective endorse TCC as the most fitting organization to facilitate this process of local, regional, and statewide collaborative governance.

Registration information coming soon.