project

Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE)

Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE) is a 5-year multinational research project that explores patterns of resilience among young people in changing environments. Research sites include communities involved in oil and gas production and communities impacted by climate change. This project is focused on Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada and Secunda, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.

RYSE examines the biopsychosocial resilience of young people over time and the relationships between the resilience of ecological systems where there are disruptions—some positive, some negative—related to oil and gas production and the effects of climate change.

The goal of the project is to understand how young people adapt and thrive in stressed environments, with a special focus on youth and their families living in communities experiencing change resulting from boom-bust cycles in the oil and gas industry and youth in communities navigating rapidly changing environments as a result of climate change.

The RYSE project works in collaboration with youth from each site to build their capacity as co-researchers, putting them at the forefront of the project, and providing the platform for the young people to influence policies within their communities.