Transcript projects encouraging active citizenship and youth

PROJECTS
ENCOURAGING
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP
AND YOUTH
PARTICIPATION
Kirsi Uusitalo
Eija Kauniskangas
www.alli.fi
ALLIANSSI
PROJECTS ENCOURAGING
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP AND YOUTH
PARTICIPATION
• Valtikka – youth participation
on web
• Assessing the participation
possibilities of young people
WHAT IS VALTIKKA?
• Youth participation on web www.valtikka.fi
• Aim is to inform about politics, encourage to participate
and offer a platform for discussion
• e-democracy, participation, empowerment, citizenship
education for young people (ages 14 - 18)
• target groups: young people AND school teachers
• important interest groups: young people, youth
councils, municipalities, member organisations of
Allianssi, especially political youth organisations,
schools, teachers etc..
EXAMPLES AND BEST PRACTICES
• Content divided into three categories:
– Basic information
• local, regional, national, European levels
• Possibilities to participate
• Teachers’ materials
– Actual information
• news & theme sections
– Interactive parts
• calendar, e-cards, discussion board, polls, news
letter, actual competitions
Youth elections 2011
•
Linked to the parliamentary elections of Finland
• School tours and political debates in schools
(in co-operation with political youth organisations)
•
•
•
Voting in shadow elections
Web-based voting machine for young people
and students
A small PR campaign for active voting
PARTICIPATION POSSIBILITIES
OF YOUNG PEOPLE
• Project, in which the young people are taken with to
evaluate the basic services of their municipality as a part
of evaluation of basic services.
• Co-operation with Ministry of Education, Local Community
Association, The Union of Finnish Youth Councils, Youth
Research Network, State Provincial Offices and National
Coordination and Development Centre of Youth
Information and Counselling Services
AIMS
• To create new methods for young people and youth
impact groups to participate and make an impact in
decision making
• To help municipalities to follow Youth Act, specially its 8§
(hearing the young people in decision making)
• To receive reliable information of basic services of
municipalities from youth point of view
• To test the dialogue based evaluation method created to
be used in hearing of young people in practise
• To assess if it is possible in future always connect the
assessment of young people to evaluation of basic
services of municipalities
METHOD: EVALUATION DAY
I: Evaluation
- Young people (representatives of youth
councils, student councils, youth houses,
youth associations, or just ”young people”)
• Evaluation and discussion of
basic services in their municipality
II: Preparation
- Young people preparing questions for decision makers
- Decision makers evaluating basic services with same methods
as youngsters
III: Dialogue between young people and decision makers
- Written report to all participants.
SOME RESULTS
• The municipalities are in very different levels in hearing
young people.
• There is also big differences between the awareness of
young people in municipal matters.
• Young people appreciated the possibility for dialogue
and felt they have been heard.
• Decision makers were suprised that young people can
and wish to have an impact.
• In some municipalities the basic services have started
to improve according to the wishes of young people.
Thank you!
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.alli.fi