Bringing the results to (young) people in your city
Peer-to-peer campaign
In a peer-to-peer campaign, participants address their networks directly. Your project involves participants from the groups that the project results are intended to reach, so the participants can pass on information effectively and in ways best suitable to their peers. Peer-to-peer campaigns offer the advantage of reaching many people in the desired target groups and in the most suitable ways. By interacting with their peers, participants also deepen their knowledge and gain self-confidence and self-efficacy.
To prepare participants, the workshops should include an introduction to the basics of how to communicate research findings in accessible ways and practical exercises on messaging and translating research language into everyday language. Depending on their interests, participants can produce their own texts, graphics, or even short videos for social media, or create a blog or podcast to accompany the research process. Helpful resources could include templates that can be easily edited, access to tools for video/audio production, and funding for paid social media campaigns.
Public event
A concluding event at the end of the research process creates an opportunity to bring the co-researchers' findings to the wider city community, to discuss them with other young people and local stakeholders, and to begin to design solutions for next-level youth engagement in their city. This event could take place after the research phase concludes and when the co-researchers have identified initial findings.
The closing event is aimed at a wider group of people than those who have been involved as co-researchers: young people, city decision-makers, local experts, interested stakeholders, and members of the general public. A closing event is also a good opportunity to gather impressions from stakeholders and to invite the local press. It could take place in the city premises or a publicly accessible space (e.g., an event space or even a shopping mall).
Co-researchers should be involved in designing the program of the event. The program should offer co-researchers the opportunity to present their findings from the project, for example in a slideshow or a gallery walk, and opportunities to discuss findings with stakeholders and the general public, for example through feedback opportunities during the gallery walk or in a fishbowl discussion. In addition, participatory workshops that discuss aspects of the findings in more detail can strengthen the involvement of the attending stakeholders and general public.
I'm just incredibly excited. First of all, it's just invigorating to be around young people who are committed to making your communities better. The last few days of sitting in the group have been amazing to me. But more importantly, what ideas are going to emerge from this and then how do we help make those come to life?
Brian Collier
Project funder, The Gambrell Foundation
We'll take a good look at the results and think about them: What do they mean for our structures? What does it possibly mean for future concepts or projects? And where do we really need to look again at what we do and how we do youth engagement?
Sandra Schwoll
Office for Social Affairs and Youth, City of Düsseldorf
Case study: Agenda of 'Co-Creating Our City' closing event in Düsseldorf
Goals
Strengthening youth participation
- Citizen Scientists share their joint findings on the needs and challenges of youth participation in Düsseldorf
- Develop and discuss concrete proposals to better involve young people in policy and civic processes
- Extending dialogue at eye level between young people, politicians, administration, and experts on urban society
Tangible solutions for Düsseldorf
- Identification of initiatives that the city administration and young people can work on together
- Involving decision-makers to promote the actual implementation of the ideas
- Discussion of concrete next steps and possibilities for adopting the proposals within city policy
Structure
Arrival (30 min)
- Drinks and snacks
- Informal discussions
- Presentation of project results as a gallery walk
Opening (10 min)
- Remarks by (e.g.) a representative of the city and a young person
Welcome and introduction (20 min)
- Project presentation (possibly with video?)
- Presentation of results
- Introduction to Bar Camp format
Collecting topics and planning sessions (20 min)
- All participants suggest topics for the sessions (e.g., on cards or digitally via Miro/Padlet)
- Joint clustering and selection of topics
- Creation of a session plan with parallel discussions
Break (15 min)
- Moving to sessions
Parallel sessions (2 x 40 min, 10 min break for changeover)
- Two rounds of discussions on different topics
- Moderation and documentation of the sessions by Citizen Scientists or Bar Camp participants
Break and informal discussions (15 min)
- Opportunity for networking and individual discussions
Summarizing the results (30 min)
- Short presentation of the most important findings from the sessions
- Discussion of next steps and implementation options
Closing and commitment (20 min)
- First reaction/comment from a representative of the city
- Agreement on concrete next steps between representatives of the young people and the city
Informal closing
- Opportunity for networking and individual discussions
Media (local and/or youth focused)
Local media or media outlets that target young people are excellent channels to bring 'Co-Creating Our City' insights to a wider group of young people in the city. Involving local media and youth-focused media outlets can help build or keep up pressure with city officials to achieve impact and close the feedback loop when changes are being made after the end of the project.
Local media or media outlets that target young people should be involved when communicating the project findings. Beyond that, opportunities for communication within the project may also arise from documenting the process and workshops, for example the kick-off, calls for participation in the project or in the research, the impact of the findings, or personal experiences of the participants.
The participants can provide valuable insights on suitable channels and media outlets based on their own media usage (e.g., youth media outlets, relevant discussion boards or social media sites, even local social media influencers). Perhaps the young co-researchers are themselves part of a youth editorial team or work on a school magazine where summaries of the findings could be placed.
Ideas for youth-focused media outlets
Germany
US