Moving Democracy Online 2.0
By implementing this new project within the “Moving Democracy Online” series, we wanted to create new opportunities for young people to learn about democracy and its challenges in the digital age. By enabling dialogue and debates between young people and decisionmakers – at both European and national levels – we aimed at strengthening youth participation in rethinking democracy at the digital level.
To achieve this, the project provided the participating youngsters with opportunities to engage in dialogue with Members of Parliament, other decision makers and stakeholders in Brussels (European Parliament), The Hague (Dutch Parliament) and Bratislava (Slovak Parliament and European Labour Authority). Through these activities, young people gained essential knowledge about democratic processes and developed a better understanding of how decisions are made. They also learned how digital technologies can support active participation and dialogue at national and European level.
A key objective of the project was to empower young people to actively contribute to democracy by developing concrete ideas on how democratic processes can keep pace with digital transformation. During the project activities,participants debated with MPs, experts, and policy makers and developed concrete recommendations to improve online dialogue between youth and decision-makers.
These recommendations were presented at the European Parliament to MEP Iuliu Winkler and at the Dutch Parliament to MP Mariëtte Patijn.
The project promoted informal learning through active participation. By engaging directly with policy makers and receiving feedback on their ideas, participants increased their interest in European and national politics, strengthened their critical thinking, and became more motivated to make their voices heard.
The outcomes of all the learning experiences throughout the project were compiled into a new digital learning tool: a Guide with concrete scenarios for involving young people in rethinking democracy digitally. The document can be found at this link:
Another dimension the project touched upon was the cultural one. The traditional cultural evenings fostered creativity and intercultural dialogue among the participants, raising awareness on European cultural diversity. The project linked different cultures in Europe, underlining the importance of cooperation at a European level.
Other outcomes were two project videos (one from the meeting in Brussels and the other one including various project moments), that can be can be found at these links:
Moving Democracy Online While Strengthening Youth Participation in Decision Making (2023)
This Erasmus+ Youth project was part of our “Moving Democracy Online” series – an umbrella initiative which was launched by Foundation Netherlands – Romania in The Hague, in 2021. Under this generic title, we have been organising various projects aimed at providing a platform for young people to engage in dialogue with representatives of The Hague politics, policy makers and other stakeholders.
The main outcome of the latest project of the series (with the youth participation activity taking place in The Hague in September 2023) was a Guide which can be accessed at the link below:
Guide with Scenarios For Connecting Youngsters To The Democratic Process
Throughout the project, participants converted the learning outcomes into concrete Scenarios which were put together in the Guide above. Youngsters developed the Scenarios as a tool on how to stimulate youth participation in dialogue with decision-makers in the digital environment, connecting them to the European e-democracy building process. They worked together in multicultural groups, with each group creating 3 Scenarios. Along with the Scenarios, the Guide provides an overview of project activities and their results, such as conclusions from different sessions or outcomes of the final evaluation.
The programme had 3 activities:
1. A start-up workshop followed by a series of 5 webinars;
2. The youth participation mobility in The Hague, taking place between 23 and 29 September 2023, during which participants entered in dialogue with decision makers, debated issues on their involvement in the democratic process and put together the scenarios for the Guide. The results were presented to Thom van Campen, Member of the Dutch Parliament, who gave feedback to the recommendations of the youngsters.
3. The evaluation and dissemination conference, where the results of the project were presented and an awareness campaign based on the project outcomes was launched. The conference took place in Campulung-Muscel on 26 February 2024 and was attended by over 150 people – both local youngsters and delegations from all the countries participating to the project ( Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland and Romania).
Below, a video summing up the meeting at the Dutch Parliament:
The Dutch Ambassador to Romania as well as the Mayor of Campulung were among the decision-makers who engaged in dialogue with the participants and gave feedback to the project results.
Find out more about “Moving Democracy Online” Series
