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Update: Using tech to make policy interesting!

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 319 The Mix Regular
edited June 2023 in Politics & Debate
Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give you all a quick update on how we used the incredible feedback you gave us on InVolved (website), YVA (game) and ConsoLab (social media) in our mission to design a digital tool to connect young people with government policymakers, allowing young voices to be heard. 

The story so far 
Just to recap what the project is all about, and give this post some context, I've put some info in the spoiler below.
Right now when the government wants to make a new policy, one of the stages it goes through is called a “public consultation”. At this time, 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. Most of the time these documents are complicated, making it hard for young people to access them and be heard. 

We have been working to develop a digital platform to solve this issue and make it easier for young people to get involved. In March this year, young people met to come up with some ideas for digital tools to make policy consultations more accessible for young people. We 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. We then put those ideas to you all on the community and recieved some really insightful feedback. 

How we used your feedback
During the residential, we looked at and evaluated all of the feedback that we'd recieved through The Mix's surveys, boards and chat, along with feedback the thoughts of other young people and government staff too. Your feedback was really useful in helping to shape our designs - you'd considered areas that we'd not even considered so your support was appreciated! @Italia has the document we used with all of your feedback collated in one place and will share this with you all when she can.

Decisions we made based on feedback
Based on all of the feedback we had recieved, we split into two groups to develop our designs further. One group worked on adapting the game concept so that it could be an educational tool used to engage young people in politics (preparing them to participate in consultations) and the second group looked at how we could use social media and the InVolved site together to gather views. We looked at some changes we could make based on your feedback, such as removing the word 'expert' from InVolved to make it more accessible. 

What next?
The next stage for us is to present our ideas and views to a MP from the government and some senior government staff, to gather their thoughts and feedback. The feedback that you have offered has been invaluable in helping us to get to a point where we're able to do this, and we'll definitely keep you posted. 

Questions? Want to know more?
Feel free to give me a shout with any queries that you have. Always open to messages and happy to chat!

Speak soon!
Post edited by TheMix on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 319 The Mix Regular
    edited May 2019
    Hey - Just tagging to make sure you see the above if you're interested as your feedback, along with the others gathered through surveys and social, we're mega valuable!

    @Jellyelephant @Millie2787 @Lucy307 @Aidan @Azziman @Kasa2103
  • ItaliaItalia Posts: 233 Trailblazer
    Thanks Harry :) 

    Its been great to have the community feed into these ideas, and I can't wait to see what happens next.  Just for anyone following along, I have posted some one page summaries of what we heard from you all on the original threads.  Just making sure we are keeping everyone looped in.  

    Thanks
    Italia 

    “People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
    -
    Brene Brown

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