Teens for Democracy

 

The Democracy and Culture Foundation has taken up the challenge to help teens develop the Teens for Democracy (T4D) initiative. The initiative aims to create a space for teens to engage in deliberative democracy in ways that will allow their voices to be heard on issues that impact their future. The objective of the project is to help empower teens to have a voice and to foster their development in becoming active citizens in their communities.

 

Empowering teens to be global citizens

The issue

Teens, generation Z, has lost trust in political institutions. In today’s modern world global problems threaten our existence. In our modern times teens acquire maturity earlier than in previous generations. Teens thus want a seat at the table

Young people aged 18-30 years old are less likely to vote worldwide. Why?

  • Young people lost trust in older generations and the institutions they have build.
  • The voter turnout in elections decreases.  Less than 50% of youths vote which is 15% more than the general population of the US.
  • Although there are a lot of youth organizations there is a lack of teens organizations

 

In the last few years, we have seen the highest abstention in elections rates coming from youth.  We want to change this. Teen apathy is not an option. Teen engagement is. 

 

The proposal

The Democracy and Culture Foundation has taken up the challenge to help teens develop the Teens for Democracy (T4D) initiative. The initiative aims to create a space for teens to engage in deliberative democracy in ways that will allow their voices to be heard on issues that impact their future. The objective of the project is to help empower teens to have a voice and to foster their development in becoming active citizens in their communities.

The programme is scoped for 24 months. 

Aims 
The T4D initiative aims to achieve the following:

  1. to provide a mechanism that will allow teens to exchange ideas and inspire the start of a movement that is driven by the teens themselves; 
  2. to frame and test a strategy to engage with schools on offering workshops for teens;
  3. to inspire governments to modernize their mind-sets on how to engage more meaningfully with youth.

Strategy

Working with technology and institutional partners, DCF seeks to implement the following key action steps:

  1. with teens assuming the role of peer influencers, establish an international volunteer network among engaged teens to build awareness and promote the initiative;
  2. develop a digital platform/app for teens;
  3. engage with corporate brands that target teens and align with democratic values to enhance brand messaging and forge more meaningful teen engagement; 
  4. devise a pilot T4D project with schools in three locations that includes workshops and peer-to-peer mentoring;
  5. create a prototype for teen voices at the Athens Democracy Forum that can be replicable in other fora;
  6. bring government representatives to tables curated by teens.

Impact 

Strengthen democracy by increasing information, engagement, and empowerment of the teens who will drive the agenda for their common future.

 

Team

We are working with Ines Saltiel and Alexia Papageorgiou on this project.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the project, please email us.

Take a look at the 'Teens for Democracy' sessions with Alexia and Ines below, which took place during the Democracy and Culture Day during the Athens Democracy Forum this year.

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Teens for Democracy overview

A short overview of our Teens for Democracy Project.

Teens for Democracy session

Dubravka Šuica, Ines Saltiel and Alexia Papageorgiou.

Teens for Democracy shortened session

Dubravka Šuica, Ines Saltiel and Alexia Papageorgiou.

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