Environmental Youth Council
This Fall, the Green Valley Project Youth Council is putting youth voices into action. Across Ventura County, students (ages 13–20) are leading hands-on restoration and conservation projects that bring communities together, restore native habitats, and inspire youth environmental leadership.
Our Spring Projects by City
Ojai
The Green Valley Project Youth Council is a 9-week spring program for teens ages 13–19 in the Ojai Valley that combines environmental science, leadership development, and hands-on community action. Youth Council members learn GIS mapping skills to identify areas impacted by extreme heat, analyze data to propose strategic tree planting locations, and collaborate as a team to develop and present their findings to local stakeholders. The program empowers teens with practical skills in public speaking, teamwork, and civic engagement while giving them the opportunity to make a real, positive impact on their community through local tree planting efforts.
Meetings Every Sunday 10am-12pm
Starting February 22
Thousand Oaks
This spring session Thousand Oaks Youth Council participants will be immersed in a massive state wide community science project. A conservation non-profit has set its mission to collect, compile and produce California’s first breeding bird atlas. Acknowledging and addressing a severe lack in our state's avian knowledge. California is an ecologically unique region, harboring the greatest biodiversity of any state. The state's special status doesn’t end with biodiversity, some bird species can be found to nest nearly every month out of the year within the state. However such location and data has not been collected at this scale. Youth council members will gain experience in avian research field work. Venturing into open spaces of the conejo valley with an observant eye and ear, to locate birds. Utilizing tools such as binoculars, spotting scopes, eBird, Merlin, and field notes. Within the program, two teams will work to produce two distinct deliverables. A research poster/manuscript based on ebird data for the science team and art team creating an outreach brochure in addition to a mini documentary.
Mondays from 4PM - 6PM
Starting March 2nd
Oxnard
The Green Valley Project Oxnard Youth Council is a community outreach–focused program that empowers students to engage directly with their community through hands-on environmental action. Participants collaborate to distribute native plant seeds at local parks, engage the public in conversations about native plants, habitat restoration, and environmental stewardship, and design educational activities and crafts that help community members learn about the importance of native plants. Through partnerships with local organizations like Mini Nature Reserve, students support ongoing native planting efforts while building leadership, communication, and civic engagement skills through meaningful, real-world experience.
Meetings Every Wednesday 4:30pm-6:30pm
Starting March 4
Ventura
We are planning to start a Ventura Youth Council this upcoming fall and would love to connect with interested students and community members. If you’re interested in applying or have project ideas for your community, please email us at tara@thecrew.org
