Sustainability not only preserves but improves the quality of our lives now and for future generations. Innovation requires new ways of thinking about and doing things.

The more we listen to and encourage young people to share their ideas and perspectives, the more prepared we'll be to become our future.

We face uncertainty. Whether it's economic development, social and environmental responsibility, even resilience, sustainability will need to become the core of every decision we make.

This week is the launch of City of Newcastle Sustainnovation Challenge; a first-of-its-kind collaborative learning experience for secondary students to help create a sustainable future.

The program has been designed to harness the enthusiasm, inspiration, and brilliant minds of young people.

It's been designed as a community capacity building project delivered under the council's NewSkills and Living Lab programs. The concept is trialling a unique collaboration between education, industry, community, and city leaders who are volunteering their expertise to help students develop workable solutions to important issues.

Students from nine Newcastle secondary schools will participate in a series of two-day online workshops to tackle four key challenges: improving accessibility for people; dealing with plastic; planning for an ageing community, and preparing for a creative economy. The first two workshops will take place this year.

Steered by specialists in social inclusion, smart cities, technology, business and innovation, students will be guided through advanced thinking techniques using applied innovation, system engineering, and other analysis and development tools.

The goal is to empower young people to get creative in designing realistic and practical concepts that will encourage a whole-of-community approach to ensuring sustainability. Ideas showing the greatest smart city potential will progress to the council's Living Lab accelerator program to be further developed and possibly implemented.

Young people come to problems with new insights. I'm looking forward to hearing their perspectives, knowing such ideas and contribution could help determine future - and sustainable - decisions for all.

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