Rake Praat

Abstract

Political participation of a group representative of society is essential for the legitimacy of a democratic system. But adolescents are not heard sufficiently and receive too little attention in contemporary democracy. Their political participation is very low and not representative for their age group, as politically engaged adolescents often enjoy formal education, do not come from vulnerable groups and have positive role models at home or at school. In the participatory society, which has become the Dutch norm, participation has become vital. Differences in level of participation can result in inequalities for groups who do not sufficiently bring up their concerns. The corona crisis has exposed this is the case for mbo-students.
Involving this group of underrepresented, under-involved and not-heard mbo-students is imperative to achieve the equality necessary for a legitimate democratic system. Increasing their participation will contribute to more social justice. Despite efforts by the government, the political participation of mbo-students does not appear to be increasing.
The lack of participation of mbo-students is a complex problem with many causes. Mbo-students are incredibly diverse in age, ethnicity, interests, and so on, and ‘the’ mbo-student does not exists. There is a gap between politicians and mbo-students, and the current participation system does not fit students’ needs. Furthermore, they have difficulties formulating opinions autonomously and do not know how to translate these into action.
The proposed design intervention is the concept Rake Praat. The process of Participatory Budgeting (where a municipality allocates a section of the annual budget to be spent by citizens) has been altered to more accurately facilitate the needs and wishes of mbo-students. Their experiences form the foundation for the process. With the use of integrated Creative Problem-Solving techniques, students and politicians define potential projects together.
With four co-creation sessions, each with its own focus, mbo-students and politicians navigate together from problem to solution. A session plan can be designed by the municipality and schools with the use of the Activity Cards. These describe different types of (creative) activities, allowing the participants to go through the different stages of the creative process: diverging, reverging, and converging. The activities are shaped so that the creative facilitation does not require experts, allowing students and politicians to go through the process autonomously.
The design makes creative problem-solving more accessible to non-designers, providing policymakers and politicians with the means to shape contacts with mbo-students. Simultaneously, the toolkit gives students the opportunity to express their views directly to people who can make a difference. This is necessary for both groups to understand each other better.