Are we doing enough to equip and unleash young people as shapers of that future?

These are the two questions driving Kieran Murrihy and his program Crazy Ideas College.

The program works with schools, organisations, businesses and government to help ensure young people play a key role in creating the future.

Young people in the program identify an issue they care about, share their idea and are connected with community partners to help bring that idea to life.

Mr Murrihy said he believed Ballarat could be a leader in engaging young people as activators of new ideas in community.

"There are lots of issues we want solutions for and we are saying let's tap into young people," he said.

"I think the conditions are right for somewhere like Ballarat to get really good at this.

"For people to bring their collective efforts together and say we are leading the way.

"That is the future we can imagine, that Ballarat leads the way in really truly engaging their young people as activators of new ideas in community."

Crazy Ideas College is expecting to engage with more than 500 young people in Ballarat this year.

Three schools will participate in the Crazy Ideas College program in term two. Participating students will pitch their big ideas about pressing issues to community representatives.

RELATED COVERAGE: Students pitch ideas to solve community problems for Crazy Ideas College

The program will be running through the Ballarat Tech School in term three, providing an opportunity for interested teams of students from a broader range of schools to work on their own ideas.

Some schools are also looking to run the Crazy Ideas College process within their classrooms.

Young people will submit their ideas on the Crazy Ideas College Beyond website at the end of each process so people in the community can see them and vote for their favourites.

The young people are also connected with community partners who can help them experiment in the community.

Students in Ballarat who participated last year have gone on to create a podcast on body image, work with IGA on eco friendly bags and start a letter writing campaign between young people and people in aged care.

"Young people partnering with the right organisations is key," Mr Murrihy said.

"We are helping bring a lot of this to life but it is primarily by having the right partnerships with organisations and young people in communities and then allowing young people to step up."

RELATED COVERAGE: Crazy Ideas College supports young people to share ideas with community

Crazy Ideas College has developed a connection with Committee for Ballarat and tapped into its member organisations to provide community connections for students last year.

Mr Murrihy said more than half of the student teams continued on their own accord to experiment with their ideas in community.

While Mr Murrihy is based in Ballarat, Crazy Ideas College is now engaging with young people and organisations around Australia.

Students in other areas have worked with Public Transport Victoria to create a new app that would make it easier for users to report when they are feeling unsafe.

Other students have begun a program called KFC counselling to reduce the barriers and stigma in making initial connections with mental health professionals.

Another group have created a 'pocket pal' device to encourage primary school aged children to do physical activity.

The idea first launched about seven years ago, stemming from Mr Murrihy's 20 years of work in consulting and working with organisations and businesses in thinking about the future.

He has done academic study in strategic foresight, understanding implications of big waves of change and the opportunities that arise from disruption.

"I love free range thinking, the ability to get beyond business as usual approaches," Mr Murrihy said.

"Futures thinking is really good at being able to disconnect from the status quo so you can see previously unimagined possibilities. That is what I have always been fascinated in and love.

"At this point in time, there is a case to be made that the future is up for grabs. There is a whole host of forces at work now. They are going to substantially disrupt and challenge life as we know it over the coming years."

Mr Murrihy said while COVID had been a substantial disruption, there were more challenges to come and it was important to switch to being proactive rather than reactive.

"It is not just feeling like we are the subject of the change, but we can start to thinking about the changes we want to see and work towards them," he said.

"Rather than just looking at the change and saying how do we react, say what is the future we want to create.

"Do we want to create a world where more people are living healthy, connected, fulfilling, prosperous lives?

"Do we want to be on good terms with our planet, do we want to be able to care for our environment?

"It is an interesting time in terms of the ability for us to ask whether or not we want more of the same or whether these big forces at play create an opportunity for us to revitalise and reimagine.

Mr Murrihy said he saw young people as a key asset to tap into.

"One of the things we have always been really aware of is there is it is hard to implement action," he said.

"We are making sure we are giving young people the knowledge, the connection, the resources, the partners to act."

Mr Murrihy said he would continue to work to grow Crazy Ideas College to give more young people the opportunity to lead change.

"In a few years time we will have had potentially thousands of young people in this community that no longer think the future is coming at them but they are shaping the communities around them," he said.

"Many young people do want to step into this, they just need the opportunities."

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