Young people from rural and regional communities have grappled with increasing social isolation, lost jobs, being unable to participate in education and socialise due to bad internet connections, poor mental health and an even more uncertain future.

Some who lived in bushfire-prone areas were also recovering from the trauma and devastation from the fires of the previous summer and the ongoing anxiety of if it will happen again.

Workers supporting young people had to advocate for their services to continue throughout various lockdowns and restrictions, and services were having to be delivered online, despite Zoom fatigue from young people.

As we move back to a world which includes COVID-19 as part of our lives, we can't just go back to how things were. We must create equitable, meaningful and engaging opportunities that recognise and include rural and regional communities.

At Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic), we have doubled down on this for our one-day youth forum and two-day youth sector conference, Reshape Our Future, which will bring more than 1000 young people, workers, policy makers and thought leaders to connect, build capacity and inspire action from May 31-June 2.

Instead of a traditional physical or online event, YACVic is embarking on an ambitious hybrid event with five physical in-person locations (Melbourne, Mildura, Lakes Entrance, Warrnambool and Wangaratta) plus online, simultaneously joined up via technology.

These are regional locations which prior to the global pandemic, had less opportunities to design and lead big events which bring hundreds of people together.

Our staff on the ground have organised in partnership with local communities and services to ensure each location's event showcases and addresses the needs, topics, concerns and successes of young people and workers in these communities.

We also recognise that online spaces continue to be more flexible and accessible for many people, and will have an interactive online option.

On Sunday, May 30, our Wangaratta and Lakes Entrance locations will host advocacy workshops and discussions with young people on recovery related to the 2019-20 bushfires. These workshops will not only assist young people to start local advocacy based recovery projects but will also feature presentations from YACVic's 2020 Rural Young Activators, whose video created a sensation when it it launched in February this year.

The youth forum on May 31 will be entirely led and designed by young people, for young people.

Hundreds of diverse young people aged 12-25 will connect across Victoria.

They will be at the forefront of the movement of young people leading and advocating for change.

The youth sector conference (June 1 and 2) will bring together workers who support young people, policy makers and thought leaders from multiple sectors, including young people, to discuss and address key challenges, build connections, and showcase the cutting-edge of youth work practice and youth participation.

We have special guests including Victorian Youth Minister Ros Spence, Liana Buchanan (principal commissioner for children and young people), global expert and researcher on young people's rights and participation Harry Shier, Saji Prelis (co-chair of the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security at the United Nations) and queer activist, commentator and writer on sexual health, Nevo Zisin.

Many more guests are still to be announced.

By embarking down this ambitious path, YACVic wants organisations, services, industry, media and government to join us in ensuring regional and rural communities design and lead key events and decisions that affect young people.

Please spread the word to people who work or volunteer to support your younger community members.

Tickets and scholarships are available at www.yacvic.org.au/reshape

Derm Ryan is the manager of YACVic Rural. YACVic is the peak body and leading policy advocate for young people in Victoria.