Hear from one of our wonderful 30 under 30 participants, Kushal, about his experience of the programme and how it has supported him on his political journey.

My allegiance to the Green Party stems from my disillusionment with the Labour Party, which began quickly after the inception of Keir Starmer at the helm. For me, the straw that broke the camel’s back was Keir Starmer’s Labour going back on the party’s long held commitment to abolishing tuition fees. I feel that this policy is integral for a party that commits itself to representing people equitably.

The Green Party’s commitment to free higher education is just one reason that drew me in. Ultimately, Labour’s recent aim to entice would-be Conservative voters has seen them drift too far away from the social justice principles that led me to becoming a Labour member as a hopeful sixth former in 2015. Given the recent flight of many on the left in Labour, most notably political commentator Owen Jones, I know I am not alone in thinking this. With social justice values aiming to create a fairer and more equal society through policies such as reducing energy bills by insulating homes, decarbonizing the energy systems, Universal Basic Income, Free Education at all levels, workplace democracy, strengthening the role of Trade Unions and Racial and Gender Equality, I believe that the Green Party is best able to actualize social justice.

These are policies that ought to be actioned and so since leaving the Labour Party last May and joining the Greens back in August, I have been eager to secede from the comfort of the pub stool (although still maintaining positive diplomatic relations with it) and become more actively involved in pushing for a society that is more socially justice. The 30 under 30 program has offered me a fantastic avenue to take initial steps towards fulfilling this aim.

The 30 under 30 program equips young greens with the necessary political tools to effectively engage in political activism. The benefit of learning these tools is that young greens can become politically active in a plethora of ways. Through our sessions on community-based action and public speaking I have assumed stronger electorate-facing skills, but I feel equally more capable of adopting a more administrative role through our sessions on policy enactment and debating.
The sessions were engaging and insightful, a quality I attribute to the fantastic planning by the coordinators who incorporated a variety of teaching techniques into their sessions. For instance, in the policy enactment and debating sessions we were lectured on how debates are conducted and how motions are democratically decided upon by the Green Party before being given an opportunity to role play the process.

Given the nature of the program, it is fair to assume that all 30 under 30 attendees are extremely knowledgeable about politics. Nonetheless, some of us (including myself) were certainly less knowledgeable about the inner workings of party politics i.e., how political decisions like determining policies that the green party should enact are conducted. The role play enabled me to participate in this process and receive constructive feedback on my contributions to the debate. Consequently, I feel both confident and motivated to participate in actual decision-making processes in the future!

Following a thorough and engaging session presented by Councilor Jack Lennox on how to win local elections by incorporating the Green Party’s Target to Win strategy (learn more about this by here), the coordinators held an interactive session based on increasing community-engagement and strengthening support for the Green Party. Here, we were put into groups and given realistic scenarios that Green Party candidates may face during local elections. This was a conducive method for us to use the content we learnt during Lennox’s presentation to strategise for real-life scenarios. I found this session helpful because I usually read about local election results during my downtime (for example, whilst waiting for or being on an inevitably delayed Southwestern railway service – sorry, couldn’t help myself!) However, now I was being asked how I would engage a community that was predominantly composed of a Conservative demographic! Being able to pose strategies and listening to my comrades’ ideas (some of whom drew on their previous experiences of campaigning) has certainly led me to feel more capable of playing a prudent and effective role when being involved in electoral campaigning.

The session on public speaking conducted by Deputy Leader Zack Polanski was fun and useful. Zack (no doubt drawing on his background in Drama) got us into pairs with people we were less familiar with to make silly noises that cultivated a jovial and crucially comfortable environment. Zack imparted useful tips to improve our public speaking abilities. Personally, I found his tip of not filling gaps in our speech with sounds like “umm” or “err” and instead just pausing for thought very helpful as it highlighted a challenge I (as most people do) have when public speaking. For anxious beings like myself, replacing conversational fillers with pauses for thought can alter our perception of time (in my experience one second becomes one hour). Nonetheless, now that I have identified this, I am aiming to improve. Although admittedly for me, this is easier said than done!

Meeting a senior member of the Green Party like Zack also gave us a chance to get more of an understanding of Green Party initiatives and opportunities for us to get involved with the Green Party. For instance, he informed me of the role I could play within my London constituency by working with councillor Natalie Bienfait to proliferate support for the Green Party in Tower Hamlets. Since meeting with Zack, I have taken his advice on board by becoming more of an active participant for the Tower Hamlets Green Party. In early April I made my leafleting debut for the Green Party in the Bow and Bethnal Green area. Everyone was very accommodating, and I found this to be an ideal combination of socialising with like-minded people whilst exercising my political consciousness.
Incidentally, we also had lunch with Zack! As we approach election season, I intend to become increasingly politically active for the Green Party – an activity that has certainly been encouraged by my experience of liaising with more experienced and active Greens during the 30 under 30 program.

Young councillors were also provided with a platform to share their experiences and answer questions from us. I found this session invaluable as it demonstrated to me that if young like-minded people are playing a leading role in initiating change in their local areas, there are similar
opportunities for me to actualize my political consciousness. Certainly, this session ignited a spark in me to try and initiate positive changes in my local area.

Another aspect of the program that I found uplifting was the diversity and inclusion of the program. This program seeks to represent young people from all classes, gender and ethnic backgrounds and my experience of the program certainly reflected this. The Green Party is often cast as a magnet for
middle-class idealogues (like me), but I saw a broader section of society being represented in the program. That is not to say that the Green Party has completely fulfilled the goal of engaging people from a wide range of minority groups. Far from it, more needs to be done to dispel myths that perhaps alienate people from the Green Party whilst demonstrating to a broader section of society that their aspirations for social justice are best represented by the Green Party.

As I become increasingly active in the Green Party, I have identified widening support for the Green Party as a key personal objective that I would like to contribute towards. Undoubtedly, especially through the community engagement and public speaking sessions, the 30 under 30 program has facilitated the development of my skillset to help me to realise this ambition. My leafleting debut has already allowed me to put these skills into practice. In the midst of the Spring electoral season and the General Election, I was able exercise these skills more frequently.

The Young Greens 30 Under 30 programme has a proven track record of training leaders and activists including MP and current party Co-Leader Carla Denyer, along with several members of the current Young Greens Executive Committee. It will be worth watching to see what amazing things 2024’s cohort go on to achieve.

To get involved with the Young Greens on your campus or meet other Young Greens in your local area, visit our Groups page to find out more.

The post “The 30 under 30 program equips young greens with the necessary political tools to effectively engage in political activism” appeared first on Young Greens.

Young Greens Political Education Officer Phil Davies rounds up our 2024 30 Under 30 flagship training scheme.

The 2024 Young Greens annual 30 Under 30 event took place in Manchester from the 16th-18th of February. This three day residential weekend brought together Young Greens from across England and Wales for training, education and connection building.

We kicked of the weekend with the Young Greens Co-Chairs Jane Baston and Luanne Thornton talking participants through the structures of the Green Party and the Young Greens itself. Young Greens Political Education Officer Phil Davies then ran a session on the history and philosophical basis of Green politics, including introducing participants to the 4 key pillars of Green Politics. This session also covered how Green parties emerged and how the Green Party of England and Wales and the Young Greens fit into the wider global green movement. The day was rounded off by a session on how Green Party policy is created and how conference works. This also gave participants the chance to practise their debating skills.

The second day focussed on winning local elections and we were joined by the excellent Cllr Jack Lennox, the Green Party spokesperson for Culture, Sport and Digital Inclusion, and the Green candidate for Lancaster and Wyre in the upcoming General Election. This session also gave participants a chance to practise what they had learned with real life electoral scenarios.

Next in the schedule was a session on movement building, before we were joined by the Green Party’s Deputy Leader and London Assembly Member Zack Polanski for a session on communication and media skills. This session was highly interactive, energising and engaging and we really appreciate Zack taking time to come and run this session.

The final day began with Young Greens Election Officers Dan Kittmer and Kelsey Trevett running a workshop on how Young Greens can get involved in helping at the next general election. It was great to see so many young Greens keen to attend action days and, particularly encouragingly, stand as general election candidates themselves. We finished off our weekend with an elected Young Green councillors panel and Q & A. This featured Hamish Mills, Lauren McLay and Tor Pingree, who we are all very grateful were able to come and share their knowledge and experiences with us. It was great to hear about the crucial work and amazing changes elected Young Greens are making to communities across England and Wales.

Reflecting on the weekend, participant Rosa Dilling said: “Having spent my early 20s getting really into complaining about politics but doing nothing about it, going to a weekend aged 27 to hang out with other young people who were willing to do something about it was phenomenal. The education on campaigning, canvassing and targeted strategy feels like it’s elevated me to a much better position for future organising! As for the people, well I really don’t have words that would do justice for the inspiration I have taken from both the organisers and my fellow comrades. If you want to get involved in actual social change, 30 under 30 is the program for you!!”

Young Green Co-Chair Luanne Thornton said: “I want to take this opportunity to highlight the incredible talent and enthusiasm in this cohort of 30 under 30 candidates . It’s clear that they will go on to do great things within the party. It was really great to have deputy leader Zack Polanski join us on the Saturday afternoon to deliver a session in public speaking . As always his charisma shone through and it led to a really productive session.

The Young Greens 30 Under 30 programme has a proven track record of training leaders and activists including current party Co-Leader Carla Denyer, and Benali Hamdache, the Green Party’s Migrant & refugee Support Spokesperson and Islington Councillor, along with several members of the current Young Greens Executive Committee. It will be worth watching to see what amazing things 2024’s cohort go on to achieve.

Thank you to everyone who took part in organising and facilitating this event, all our incredible guest speakers, and all the wonderful participants who chose to share this truly unique experience with us. The next 30 Under 30 programme will run under the next Executive Committee. Members will receive an email when the programme goes live.

The Young Greens are the Youth and Student Wing of the Green Party of England and Wales. Any Green Party member who is under 30 or a full-time or part-time student is automatically a member of the Young Greens. Join the Green Party here.

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Throughout the three day weekend participants were introduced to a wide range of topics. The first day focused on the Green Party itself, giving participants an introduction to the Young Greens as well as their parent party, alongside Green Politics and Green Party Policy. Bright Green editor, Chris Jarvis, introduced participants to the historical underpinning of Green Politics and how this has developed into the modern day Green Party of England and Wales.

The programme focuses on building the next group of leaders within the Party, a core function of which is winning elections across England and Wales. Participants were introduced to the Green Party’s election strategy “Target to Win” by Frank Adlington-Stringer, former Executive Committee member and current Campaign Organiser. While refining their skills and developing campaign plans, participants learnt how to use effective messaging and communication strategies to win campaigns and share the Green Party message.

Participant Josh Harris from Stoke-on-Trent said “30 under 30 was such a great experience, not only was there so much valuable training on campaigning, but I also met so many amazing people. It was such an enriching weekend, I would really recommend it!”

Lola Karpf commented on the weekend saying “I really enjoyed 30u30 – I felt lucky to have been part of such a special weekend, shaping the next generation of Greens. I learnt a lot of valuable skills to take forward through my involvement with the Green Party and got to be around some amazing, inspiring people!”

The Young Greens 30 Under 30 programme has trained leaders and activists across the Party including current Co-Leader Carla Denyer, and Benali Hamdache, the Green Party’s Migrant & refugee Support Spokesperson and Islington Councillor.  This year 30 incredible Young Greens were trained in the programme and their next steps will be ones to watch. The next 30 Under 30 programme will run under the next Executive Committee. Members will receive an email when the programme goes live.

The Young Greens are the Youth and Student Wing of the Green Party of England and Wales. Any Green Party member who is under 30 or a full-time or part-time student is automatically a member of the Young Greens. Join the Green Party here.

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