Local Democracy Week 2007
In 2007 the Council and partners worked with local young people to put on a series of exciting events.
The main aim of te week was to increase understanding of and invovlement in local demcoracy.
The events included:
- Training for councillors (run in partnership with the British Youth Council and young ambassadors) followed by councillor visits to schools and youth clubs in the borough
- A play – Zoop, Zoop, Hackney! Who Aksed U? devised by young people and the Arcola Theatre in Dalston
- A ‘Scrutiny in a Week’ project run by local young people
- A Q and A session with the Mayor of Hackney and guests, including Meg Hillier MP and Borough Commander Steve Dann
- An exploring democracy event
The events had good feedback and got a lot of coverage in the press. Sarra Said-Wardell, 12, watched the play. She said: “It was well acted and the characters convincing. It was interesting and different to see a play performed and based around Hackney, my local area”. She added: “the whole play made fun of politics, the media and celebrity – but at the same time it had a serious message that it’s important for young people to get invovled in their local communities.”
The play was entered into the Channel Four Political Awards in January 08. It was one of three shortlisted for the ‘opening up politics to new audiences’ category.
The Young Scrutiny group reviewed the issues surrounding youth engagement with democracy. During the week they gathered evidence, designed a questionnaire that went to all secondary schools and ran a focus group with their peers. You can view the full document, recommendations, and supporting film on the Young Scrutiny Group Project page.
Overall the week had a positive impact on the amount of youg people invovled with democracy. An indication of this can be seen from the Electoral Register: there was a 44% increase in the amount of 16-17 year olds registered to vote when it was published in December 2007.
Local Democracy Week 2007 has been entered into the CIPR Awards for ‘best campaign’. Attached is the main document from the submission.
Page updated: 15 Jun 2010
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