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The PYDA Series brings the Positive Youth Development in Aotearoa framework to you in five standalone two-hour sessions, one outcome or approach per session, across the second half of 2026. Whether you’ve been meaning to do the full-day PYDA training and haven’t found the time, or there’s a particular topic you want to explore, the series is designed to fit around your mahi without asking you to give up a whole day.
Each session stands on its own, so you can register for one, a few, or all five. If you do make it to all five, you’ll come away with the complete PYDA framework under your belt - the same foundation covered in the full-day training.
PYDA is the professional foundation for working well with young people — a developmental lens that moves practice from good instinct to intentional, evidence-informed action. Grounded in Positive Youth Development and situated in bicultural Aotearoa, the framework covers two core outcomes — Developing the Whole Person and Developing Connected Communities — and three practical approaches: Strengths-Based Practice, Respectful Relationships, and Building Ownership and Empowerment. Each session in the series takes one of these as its focus, building a complete picture of what it means to work well with rangatahi, whatever your role or sector.
This session explores the second PYDA approach- Respectful Relationships:
The relationship between a young person and a trusted adult is one of the most powerful protective factors in their development, examining what respect, trust, and genuine connection look like across different contexts, and how power dynamics shape the relationships we build with rangatahi. Through the concepts of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, you’ll explore how care, safety, and a sense of belonging are not just values to aspire to, but practical foundations for the relationships that make a difference. A session that challenges practitioners to look honestly at how they show up.
These hui are free and open to anyone working with or for young people. No prior PYDA training required.
We’d love to have you with us.
Ngā mihi nui,
Penny, Angelina, Lydia
The Youth Development Champions Project
*These hui are free and catered. In order for us to keep it that way, please help us out- only register if you're really committed to attending and, if you have registered and something has changed let us know at least 3 days in advance.
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The kaupapa of this hui comes from a timely request of the Community of Practice participants to take a look at civic participation for young people and how this interacts with social media. We will examine the implications of some election promises, and reflect on our role in supporting civic engagement in young people.
Join us as Penny, Angelina and Lydia facilitate a morning of honest reflection, shared learning, and real connection bringing together practitioners, managers, and people working across the youth sector in Ōtautahi.
He aha te ahua o te hui? What to expect...
The morning centres on you and the people in the room. Penny, Angelina and Lydia will guide a reflective practice session exploring the kaupapa. Grounded in the PYDA framework, the kōrero will explore what building real ownership and empowerment looks like in practice - noticing where young people are already shaping decisions, and where there's more room to bring them in.
From there we move into participant-led tables, a chance to bring your real questions and challenges into conversation with colleagues from across the sector.
Come prepared with something from your practice: a question you're sitting with, a challenge you're navigating, or an idea you want to test with others.
Reflective practice
Morning tea
Participant-led tables
Next steps & wrap up
Ko wai mātou? Who are we
We're the Youth Development Champions Project. We support the practical implementation of Positive Youth Development across bicultural Aotearoa. PYDA is the professional foundation for working well with rangatahi: a developmental lens that moves practice from good instinct to intentional, evidence-informed action. Our Community of Practice hui are how we put that into action together- building a more skilled, connected, and reflective youth sector, one conversation at a time.
These hui are free and open to anyone working with or for young people. No prior PYDA training required.
We'd love to have you with us.
Ngā mihi nui,
Penny & Angelina & Lydia
NOTE: There is no charge to attend the catered hui. If you can't attend for any reason, please let us know with 3+ days notice. Cancellations received with less than 3 days notice will be invoiced $20 to cover the cost of catering.
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This training is a follow-on from full-day PYDA training - so completing that is a prerequisite to registering.
We'll start with whānau, whakapapa, and whenua together, beginning with your own connection to each, then turning to how they show up in the lives of the young people you work with: their sense of belonging, identity, and place, and what it means to genuinely account for these in your practice.
From there, we turn to mauri, and to states of mauri - exploring what shifting states of mauri look like for ourselves as practitioners and our rangatahi, and how attuning to them shapes the way you support their wellbeing.
This session is for practitioners who want to deepen their PYDA understanding by exploring how a Te Ao Māori lens adds value to practice. You'll leave with a clearer sense of how these concepts inform holistic, connected practice, and specific ways to apply that understanding with the young people you serve.
This training is facilitated by Penny and Angelina- experienced youth development practitioners who have spent many years working alongside young people in a wide range of settings. More than trainers, they are passionate advocates for Positive Youth Development and bring the PYDA framework to life through real-world examples, reflection, and practical application. Their deep experience and commitment to the kaupapa create a learning environment that is engaging, relevant, and grounded in the realities of working with rangatahi.
These hui are free and open to anyone working with or for young people.
We’d love to have you with us.
Angelina and Lydia
*These hui are free and catered. In order for us to keep it that way, please help us out- only register if you're really committed to attending and, if you have registered and something has changed let us know at least 3 days in advance.
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The Positive Youth Development in Aotearoa (PYDA) framework is a practical and really helpful lens to put over the way we do our mahi and helps ensure we're all approaching youth development with a common language and a framework applicable for our place, Aotearoa.
It's a 'must do' training for everyone who works for or with young people.
The workshop introduces the two overarching outcomes we are all seeking to achieve,
1. Developing the Whole Person and
2. Developing Connected Communities,
AND explores the approaches we take to achieve these outcomes of Strength-Based Practice, Developing Respectful Relationships and Building Ownership and Empowerment.
We'll learn about manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and other key Māori concepts and how they apply to best practice youth development, honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
These concepts are excellent guides for working with and developing young people from all cultures in a positive way.Its a highly interactive training.
During the day we explore how the PYDA framework applies to your practice, and how to practically apply the framework to your organisation, your role, and the young people whose lives you touch. This training is facilitated by Lydia and Angelina- experienced youth development practitioners who have spent many years working alongside young people in a wide range of settings. More than trainers, they are passionate advocates for Positive Youth Development and bring the PYDA framework to life through real-world examples, reflection, and practical application. Their deep experience and commitment to the kaupapa create a learning environment that is engaging, relevant, and grounded in the realities of working with rangatahi.
This is a fundamental training for everyone who works with, or for, young people; no matter whether they are at- really experienced or brand new.
These hui are free and open to anyone working with or for young people. No prior PYDA training required.
We’d love to have you with us.Angelina and Lydia.
*These hui are free and catered. In order for us to keep it that way, please help us out- only register if you're really committed to attending and, if you have registered and something has changed let us know at least 3 days in advance.

