Youth Participate Rebrik

Youth Participate: Rebrik

Educating young people in youth participation using digital storytelling

During the second You(TH) Participate! meeting, we explored the individual levels of participation and together climbed the so-called ladder of participation (R.Hart).

According to Hart, we distinguish 8 levels of (non-)participation. Today, we will introduce the first 4 so-called "lower" forms:

At this level, young people are drawn into various committees and boards under the guise of their participation. For the most part, no proposals from young people are accepted here. In Manipulation, we talk about activities led by adults, in which young people are involved as they are told, without understanding the purpose of the activities.

In Decoration, young people understand the purpose of the activity, but are not involved in it in any way. An example could be the use of youth representatives at official municipal meetings. This level is based on using young people as decoration on various occasions where the municipality tries to create an image of itself as caring for the quality of life of young people.

Tokenism refers to informing youth about their rights, responsibilities, and opportunities, where the flow of information is one-way, from authorities to youth. No opportunity is created for young people to provide feedback or comment on the decisions of important adults. An example could be informing through public boards about planned municipal projects without the possibility of actually influencing the outcome.

At the 4th level, called Consultation, there are activities led by adults, in which young people understand the meaning, the decision-making process, and have a certain role in the activities. Consultation is still considered a lower form of participation, as young people cannot influence what will happen with the results of the consultation. The result is often that young people "participated in participation" and further steps are beyond their reach.