How can tech make policy interesting?

Italia · April 2019

Hi Everyone,

The Mix has been working with the government (DCMS) and the British Youth Council (BYC) to develop a digital way for young people to have a say when policy is being made (read more here).

As it currently stands, whenever the UK government wants to make a new policy, one of the stages it goes through is called a “public consultation” – a public consultation means that anyone who is interested can read the policy and through a form or an email let the government know what they think before the policy is agreed.

It’s good that the government takes the time to listen to the public before it agrees on a new policy which will have an impact on people’s lives. The problem is most of the time these policies are very long, full of legal terms, and the feedback form can be quite confusing. Which makes it difficult for young people to have their voices heard. We believe it is important for young people to have a say in policy development because the policy will often have an impact in their lives.

We have been working to develop a digital tool, with young people to make sure that it is easier for young people to have a say in the way policy is formed. So, this is what we have been up to so far.

In March this year, young people from the British Youth Council and The Mix’s very own @htwohig2412 met a few weeks ago to come up with some ideas for digital tools to make policy consultations more accessible for young people.
They came up with three ideas, a website, a social media strategy and a game which are all different ways young people can have a say in the development of policy and consultations.

How to get involved?

Now we want to hear what more young people think, and that’s where you come in, we would love to hear your thoughts on the ideas. We have lots of different ways for you to tell us what you think.

You can tell us what you think on the discussion boards; we will be posting three threads (one for each idea, with a few questions and would love to hear your thoughts). They will be out by the end of today.
You can fill out a short survey for each prototype, which will be on the discussion boards, and on our website by the end of the week.
You can attend an online discussion in group chat with other young people and share your thoughts. Sign up here

Feel free to ask us any questions below, and we will be happy to answer them.

Italia