What is it?
Participation comprises of the public sharing, becoming involved and taking action. This implies that citizens choose to actively participate in and contribute to public decision-making at different administrative levels (i.e. local, regional, national and European) or in other contexts such as non-profit organizations, schools etc.
In the case of eParticipation, this involvement and participation in decision-making take place electronically through the use of online information and internet-based communication technology. Essentially, eParticipation is interactive online policy-making in action.
Advantages
Digital and mobile participation enables citizens to take part in more efficient decision-making, independent from time and place. Young people want to voice their ideas and opinions in particular, and most use internet and mobile technology to communicate.
Combination of online and offline participation
However, active youth participation can most effectively be implemented through a combination of online tools and offline activities such as interactive events, live discussions etc. Offline activities can happen at the beginning, during and at the end of the project. They are very suitable for informing participants about the project, the topic and the tools, motivating participants, deepening, structuring and condensating data which has been collected online or promoting the participation results to a greater audience.
Would you like to know more about youth participation? Check the links below:
OPIN.me resources
Facebook group on eParticipation
Source: https://www.euthproject.eu/project/open-call/eparticipation/