Cultural Nations Bridge Pilot

The pilot is proposed. No Nation, community, school, sport organization, funder or researcher is confirmed as a participant, no dates are set, and no outcomes are claimed. This page describes what we are proposing so that a community or funder can decide whether a conversation is worth having.

Participating communities retain authority over their knowledge, their participation, and decisions about how it is used.

Six weeks, in one setting, working with the same group of young people and the adults around them. The experience brings three streams into conversation:

• Brain health: how stress, freeze responses and trust shape what a child can say and what an adult notices.
• Cultural knowledge: how belonging, relationship and identity support wellbeing, directed by the community.
• Safe sport: what protection looks like in coaching, training and competition.

Learning happens through movement, relationships and practical conversation rather than a curriculum delivered at people. Boundaries, wellbeing, belonging and the conditions young people need to thrive are the focus.

• Youth: Indigenous young people in a school, sport or community setting where the pilot is hosted.
• Caregivers: Parents, guardians and family members who want to understand what protection looks like in practice.
• Coaches and educators: The adults closest to young people day to day, including athletic coaches and instructors.
• Community Knowledge Keepers: Elders and community members whose knowledge shapes the content, with authority over its use.

• Community partner: Holds authority over participation, content and how community knowledge is used, and decides whether the work continues.
• Delivery partner: Provides the setting, the adults and the time: a school, sport organization or community program able to host six weeks.
• Funder: Supports a defined part of the work, with written agreement on what the funding covers before anything begins.
• Researcher: Helps frame the evaluation questions and review what the pilot learns, without taking ownership of community knowledge.

These are proposed readiness requirements. They are how we would avoid starting something the host setting cannot sustain:

• Community direction and authorization are in place before any session runs.
• Safeguarding and reporting expectations are agreed with the host organization, alongside its existing legal duties.
• Named adults are available for the full six weeks, not only for the launch.
• A space for movement-based sessions is available in the host setting.
• Agreement on what is recorded, who holds it, and what may be shared is settled in advance.

We are not claiming results. These are the questions the pilot would try to answer, with partners, across the six weeks:

• Do children have language for their boundaries, and do they know which adult to go to?
• Do the adults around them recognize concerning behaviour sooner and act with more confidence?
• Does cultural knowledge change how safety and wellbeing are taught?
• Does the host organization's own practice or policy change as a result?
• What still depends on one person rather than on the system?

• A written summary is shared first with the community partner, who decides what may be shared more widely and in what form.
• Partners review what changed and what did not. Anything that did not work is said plainly.
• Decisions about continuing, adapting or ending the work sit with the community and the host organization.
• Nothing is described as a result until the people involved have reviewed the summary and agreed what can be said.