About
Peterborough is joining communities across Canada and the world to work towards youth substance use prevention using the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM), which is recognized globally for its proven ability to improve youth mental health and lead to better future life outcomes.
This isn't just a program; it’s a new way to create long-term plans that protect our environment for the youth growing up here. The best and most affordable way to help children succeed is to build a strong, supportive community around them.
Planet Youth Nogojiwanong - Brought to you by PYSUP, with the mentorship of Planet Youth, will be implementing this long-term, community-driven approach to ensure that youth are immersed in healthy, supportive social environments and learn to adopt healthy behaviours.
This model uses local data to determine actions that will increase protective factors and reduce risk factors in the 4 areas where youth spend most of their time:
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The Icelandic Prevention Model
The Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) approach was developed in the 1990s in Iceland. At the time, Iceland had some of the highest rates of teen substance use in all of Europe. It was clear that traditional prevention methods, focused on teaching students about the risks of drinking and drugs, were not working.
Today, Iceland’s youth substance use rates are among the lowest in the world.
Their new approach emphasized getting all relevant partners to the table to build a network of support, monitoring, and opportunities for positive youth development at the local community level.
The IPM is a data-driven, population-wide model. It focuses on identifying community-level risk factors and strengthening protective factors to reduce youth substance use and other negative social outcomes among children and young people. The IPM emphasizes delaying the onset of substance use to reduce long-term health and social implications. The IPM has been documented and described in numerous peer-reviewed academic publications.
What is Planet Youth?
Planet Youth is an international organization based in Iceland, dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of young people. Through a collaborative, data-driven approach (the IPM), Planet Youth partners with communities around the world to help them create safer, healthier environments where children and adolescents can flourish.
The Guidance Program is Planet Youth’s structured, supportive framework that helps communities around the world implement the Icelandic Prevention Model. Through training, resources, and ongoing collaboration, it empowers local leaders to create data-driven strategies that strengthen protective factors, reduce risks, and delay the onset of substance use among youth.
Changing the social environment requires collaborative participation of a wide range of community members, including youth, adults, and the service providers who care for our youth.
By guiding us through this process, Planet Youth helps communities identify youth-related issues in real time with local data, and then work together as a community to address them.
The change won’t happen overnight, but through years of working together to collect data and implement interventions, we can build an environment that empowers youth to be their healthiest selves.
Planet Youth Guiding Principles
Society is the Patient
Applies a primary prevention approach that focuses on developing an organized system to enhance the social environment in communities over time. Youth outcomes are a direct reflection of the environments they live and grow in.
Meaningful Connection is a Treatment
Enhances the connection between children and their families, peers, schools, communities, and adults. Schools are embraced as the natural hub of neighbourhood efforts to support child and adolescent health, learning, and life success.
Sustained Attention as a Treatment
Engages and empowers community members to make practical designs using local, high-quality, accessible data and diagnostics.
Builds Capacity for Leadership and Problem-Solving
Integrate researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and community members into a unified team dedicated to solving complex, real-world problems.
Match the Scope of the Solution to the Scope of the Problem
Encourages authentic assessment of the problem and the solution. It’s important to remember this effort calls for realistic timeframes, a long-term commitment and funding.
Our Story
The Peterborough Youth Substance Use Prevention (PYSUP) Initiative began in January 2024, following Lakelands Public Health's success in securing one of seven new projects funded across Canada by the Public Health Agency of Canada's Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (YSUPP).
We have decided to focus on starting with the school communities in the south end of Peterborough, based on some public health surveys of risk and protective factors and conversations with the school boards. These schools are ready to do this work. We intend to include all of the Peterborough City and County communities eventually. We've made significant progress, securing school board partnerships and forming a dedicated Community Coordinating Team (CCT).
Since then, Lakelands Public Health has partnered with the Peterborough Drug Strategy to coordinate this work in a collaborative manner. Utilizing partnerships with the Peterborough Drug Strategy and other collaborative tables, leaders in education, healthcare, local governments, and police services, as well as various volunteer organizations, have come together to form the PYSUP Community Coordinating Table, serving as a steering committee to achieve our collective goal of enhancing the quality of life and communities by preventing drug and substance abuse and misuse.
The Community Coordinating Team has been meeting since the Fall of 2024 to build the foundation for PYSUP, guided by Planet Youth and their resources. This has included determining potential collaborators, arranging a funding infrastructure to establish PYSUP's sustainability and utilizing their networks and expertise to support the IPM steps.
Our Partners
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BGC Kawarthas
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Camp Kawartha
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City of Peterborough
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Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough
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Community Members
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CMHA-HKPR
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John Howard Society of the Kawarthas
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Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board
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Lakelands Public Health
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Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre
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OPP-Peterborough
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Peterborough Drug Strategy
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Peterborough Police Service
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PVNC Catholic School Board
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United Way Peterborough & District
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YMCA Central East Ontario (Peterborough Branch)
Global Community
Planet Youth Nogojiwanong is part of a global network whose aim is to create healthy communities that support young people to live their best lives.
Each community implements the Planet Youth framework using the same methodology but draws on its own survey data from local youth and takes action determined by the community.
Just as Planet Youth in Ireland will look different from Planet Youth in Argentina, the prevention activities implemented in Nogojiwanong-Peterborough may differ from the interventions implemented by other Ontario Planet Youth Partners.
See what our friends are up to: Lanark County | Timiskaming | Calgary | New Brunswick | Idaho | Iceland | Ireland
