Youth Cymru – Mid Project Report March 2018
Open Government Network Wales
After putting out a call for applicants for equalities engagement projects around Open Government, the Well-being Goals and the Global Goals, Interlink RCT, Diverse Cymru and Youth Cymru were successful and will run their projects between Oct 2017 and June 2018. Below you will find Youth Cymru’s Mid Term report.
Youth Cymru – Mid Project Report- March 2018
Outreach and Participatory Workshops
Aim:
- Developing the capacity of civil society to influence reforms in pursuit of open government and sustainable development
- Developing engagement between civil society and governments, in order to improve governance and sustainable development in Wales;
- Ensure wider participation in the open government civil society movement to progress the Well-being Goals in Wales
Update on activities:
- Project name (Voices of the Future) and logo developed in consultation with young people.
- Project and offer of workshops promoted to Youth Cymru members. In particular, we have targeted groups of young people facing additional barriers to participate, including young carers, LGBT and disabled young people.
- Workshops have been delivered to Swansea YMCA (13/2), GoodVibes LGBT group (22/2), Full Circle (28/2) and young police volunteers in Neath (8/3).
- We are collecting quantitative and qualitative data from each workshop, capturing young people’s experiences and attitudes towards democracy.
- We are using social media to promote the workshops and wider project using the hashtag #VoicesoftheFuture
- The workshops have been positively received by young people and youth workers. They have developed young people’s understanding of Welsh Government, where decisions are made and empowered young people to recognise their own ability to influence change. Young people have also identified a range of barriers to their participation, including lack of trust in politicians and current methods of communications.
- Following the workshop, we were contacted by a young person seeking further opportunities and work experience to develop their knowledge of and engagement with politics.
- We will draw together our learning into a report to share at the Roundtable event.
- The following workshops have been scheduled –
- Gellideg Foundation, Merthyr Tydfil (12/3)
- Swansea Young Adult Carers (15/3)
- Young police volunteers, Swansea (19/3)
- Young police volunteers, Port Talbot (21/3)
- Children in Wales (23/3)
- Whizzkidz, Cardiff, Newport and Llanelli (24/3, 7/4, 21/4)
“Thank you for coming in to do the workshop, it was really nice to talk about political issues in such a good environment which raised my confidence!” – young participant (17)
The Event
Aim:
- To build understanding and engagement on how best to support people with barriers to involvement in policy making to engage with open government approaches to Well-being Goals
Update on activities:
- Roundtable Event confirmed for Thursday 24th May, 12-4pm, to be held at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay. The event has been sponsored by Ann Jones AM.
- We have confirmed Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner, and a senior staff member from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner as keynote speakers.
- Invitations have been sent to Assembly Members and members of Public Service Boards across Wales.
- We will shortly be sending invitations to Youth Cymru’s network of member organisations across Wales and promoting widely on social media.
- The event will also include presentations from young people engaged with the project, sharing the barriers to participation they have faced, and examples of how they have been overcome through showcasing youth-led petitions, campaigns and projects. For example, we had a positive meeting with DEFFO Cymru who are working with a group of deaf young people to create a short film to show at the event on their work with the Assembly around BSL and improving accessibility.