{"id":938,"date":"2022-08-15T12:29:01","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T11:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/open-government-partnership\/?p=938"},"modified":"2022-08-15T12:29:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T11:29:01","slug":"causing-good-trouble-in-democracy-open-government-partnership-youth-town-hall-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/open-government-partnership\/2022\/08\/15\/causing-good-trouble-in-democracy-open-government-partnership-youth-town-hall-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Causing \u2018Good Trouble\u2019 in democracy | Open Government Partnership Youth Town Hall conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attending the online Open Government Partnership (OGP) Youth Strategy Town Hall session last month was an insightful opportunity to hear directly from young people around the world as to what they want to see from their governments in the coming years. Often considered a harder to reach audience in gaining views on government, this conversation was something special.<\/p>\n

Beyond the ballot box <\/strong><\/h3>\n

This was a key theme echoed in the session, which saw young people calling in from a wide range of countries, including Ghana, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, the USA, the UK and beyond, to passionately discuss what the new youth strategy should focus on. The outcomes of this conversation will be what the Open Government Partnership will positively advocate for governments to address.<\/p>\n

Expertly moderated by OGP committee members @aeyakuze<\/a> and @blairglencorse<\/a>, the session kicked off with a discussion into democracy and open government- are the two different or the same? A resounding consensus was met on the two being almost unquestionably interlinked- \u2018can we really have democracy without open government<\/em>?<\/strong>\u2019 As an Open Government policy officer, this was music to my ears.<\/p>\n

Mentimeter boards clustered ideas and aspirations for the future of countries by 2030, with suggestions including:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. free of corruption<\/li>\n
  2. green powered<\/li>\n
  3. most digitally innovative<\/li>\n
  4. peaceful<\/li>\n
  5. safe<\/li>\n
  6. more self-aware<\/li>\n
  7. regenerative<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Strong and decisive ideas of what they want to build their countries to be.<\/p>\n

    But how were these visions going to come about, and where and how could young people better participate?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    From the conversations that unfolded, the following key actions were drawn up by the young people on the call into how to better enable and empower them to participate in shaping democracy:<\/p>\n