Abstract for: Localisation Modelling Youth Education to Drive Advocacy in Covid 19

The Covid 19 Localisation Modelling Group was founded in March 2020 by volunteers with the aim of addressing a policy failure in the pandemic: young people, least impacted by Covid 19 are also potentially the most impactful because they can be super spreaders. One of key the reasons Covid 19 pandemic has been so difficult to manage is it is mostly invisible. e.g. you can’t see asymptomatic cases or know without a test if someone has been infected and recovered or remains susceptible. It is very difficult to act on what you can’t see or measure, much less believe in actions that have no clear connections to outcomes. We reasoned that if we offered young people a way to understand how the key invisibles in the pandemic are working in their local area it might be possible to change their mindset: - from out of the loop and unmotivated to comply with the severe restrictions needed to bring the outbreak under control - to confident knowledgeable advocates for policies that could deliver better outcomes in their local areas Tbis is the story helping dozens of young people to become confident Data Analysts, Modellers and Advocates for Change in the pandemic