The 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Legacy Forum was an incredible experience, particularly from the perspective of an Olympic Change-Maker. Us Change-Makers are all 15–18-year-old students who were nominated for the Change-Maker Award because of our role in creating positive change in our communities through sport.

From Torres Strait, to Longreach, Goodna to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the Change-Makers that attended the Forum have all made a change in their community - from promoting and improving diversity and equality in their community sport, using sport to achieve mental health benefits and showing leadership to educate their fellow community members through sporting programs.

Being invited to the Forum was immensely exciting, and we all felt honoured to have a part in shaping something that will impact not just our city, but our region, country, and the whole of Oceania in the next two decades.

From our perspective, the Forum felt like planting a garden. First the foundation – the soil – was laid: the Welcome to Country. It was so powerful to watch Traditional Owners of the land welcome us to their country through dances and songs in their native language. They told us about the past and opened the ceremony so we could move forward together into the future.

Then, the seeds – the ideas – were added to the soil. Listening to hundreds of people from countless professions voicing their ideas of how to make Brisbane a better place through the Games was inspiring, to say the least.

We were buzzing while listening to the Premier speak of this opportunity transforming our city; the President of the Australian Olympic Committee describing how we will grow our sporting culture at the heart of all decisions; and Olympians and Paralympians such as Susie O'Neill and Kurt Fearnley telling us how we'll use this to inspire and nurture a new generation of athletes so we will make our country proud in 2032.

As young Change-Makers and the voice of youth, we advocated for many things, for example we want to see more mental health education from a younger age, especially for athletes, more celebration of Indigenous culture, increasing sport participation and inclusion, better accessibility and seeing the greenest Games ever in 2032!

In breakout rooms, we delved into how we can make these seeds bloom into flowers the strategies we can use to reach these outcomes we advocated for. The strategies were bold and creative.

We suggested more para athlete and multiclass sporting clubs; an app that connects users to Olympic mentors and sports facilities and enables a donation to be made for every kilometre they run/walk/cycle/swim to a charity in Brisbane that increases sport engagement; electric and renewable-powered transportation; an urban forest; an interactive, free sustainability precinct; and, painting Brisbane trains, buses and blank walls next to train lines with indigenous artwork and creating a "Rainbow Railway" – inspired by the rainbow serpent, connecting people to country and culture in our urban environment.

But these strategies are only flowers at the base of the huge tree in this garden – the Legacy Plan. Following the Forum, the Legacy Plan has already begun to put down roots, growing tall and strong towards the sky, growing and strengthening Brisbane, Australia, and Oceania along with it.

While the Forum taught us an immense amount, the most impactful thing we learnt is how powerful and promising it is to have hundreds of diverse people come together with a common goal, to create a better Brisbane, Queensland, and Australia through the opportunity of a home Olympic Games...

It reminds us that we all have a part to play in making Brisbane 2032 bloom and we can all be the change.

By Samara Cosijn