Understanding youths’ needs for digital societal participation: towards an inclusive Virtual Council

It is important for the sustainability of society that everyone can participate in societal discussions. Although a plethora of services exists for digital participation, they have not proven to entice a broad range of youths to contribute. The aim of this research is to investigate how digital tools can offer inclusive ways for youth to take part in societal processes. We present a study of young people’s needs for a digital service enabling societal participation. Altogether 74 young people aged 16–27 with varying backgrounds participated in six workshops. Scenarios were used as stimulus materials for eliciting participants’ feedback on digital participation. The findings bring up youth’s needs for such service. Needs such as having a safe environment for discussions and making the effect of participation visible were found. Finally, the findings and resulting Virtual Council prototype are presented and discussed, and their significance in advancing inclusive digital societal participation are elaborated.

人人均可参与公共议题讨论，对社会的可持续发展至关重要。尽管当前已有大量面向数字参与的服务，但尚无实证表明它们能够吸引广泛青年群体参与贡献。本研究旨在探究数字工具如何为青年群体提供包容性参与社会事务的路径。针对支持公共参与的数字服务，本研究开展了青年群体需求调研：共招募74名年龄介于16至27岁、背景各异的青年参与6场工作坊，以情境脚本作为刺激素材，征集参与者对数字参与模式的反馈意见。调研结果提炼出青年群体对该类数字服务的多项需求，其中包括搭建安全的讨论环境，以及让参与行为的影响力可视化等诉求。最后，本文将呈现并讨论本次调研的结果与衍生的虚拟议事原型（Virtual Council prototype），并阐释其对推进包容性数字公共参与的重要意义。