Study session “Youth e-participation matters – Transferring local youth participation in decision-making processes to the digital sphere”

 

Study session “Youth e-participation matters – Transferring local youth participation in decision-making processes to the digital sphere” took place in the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg between 10th-16th October and was organised by DYPALL Network in cooperation with the Youth Department of the Council of Europe.

For the whole week 21 participants representing organisations, municipalities and institutions from 14 countries have been developing their competencies and gaining practical knowledge on the applicability, transferability and implementation of different digital solutions for youth participation in decision-making processes at the local level.

The activity builds on the results, experience and knowledge acquired during the study session “W(e)-participate! Harnessing digital innovation for youth participation at local level,” which was organised by DYPALL Network in cooperation with the Youth Department of the Council of Europe in the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg between 27 September and 3 October 2020. The report is available here.

This time much more focus has been given to the practical dimension of youth e-participation. The format of the study session allowed us to invite 3 external experts and lecturers:

– Eva Henkens from Tree Company (Belgium) led practical workshops on planning a successful e-participation process, by presenting their methodology, tools and good practices in the field

– Alexandra Chandran from CitizenLab facilitated a practical simulation on their e-governance platform, probably the most developed and complex software available in Europe

– Eva Shepherd from nexus Institut for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research (Germany) presented us their project “DIGY – Digital youth participation made easy” and allowed us to practice creating projects and ideating through the OPIN platform – a free of charge, e-participation tool designed for young people.

Moreover, the participants had an opportunity to discuss and compare the essential issues of youth participation and e-participation such as access, communication, challenges or threats. studied and exchanged good practices of youth e-participation and devised 10 principles of using youth e-participation. With an aim to create successful follow up strategies and ideas, participants learned about funding opportunities and drafted local and international project ideas, to be implemented in the nearest future. Moreover, before, during and after the activity participants have been engaged and contacted through a Discord channel, which was used for: providing materials, learning about participant’s expectations, answering their questions and getting to know each other before the activity, as well as providing updates, workshops, voting and interaction in a digital sphere.

Within the next 3 months, a full report that summarizes the outcomes of the study session will be published. Already on Wednesday, DYPALL Network will present the results of these 2 study sessions during the Meta-University organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. Learn more about this activity here.