Difference between revisions of "Youth e-consultations at NIYF"

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NIYF: Exploring Capacity for E-Enabled Youth Participation in Public Consultation

Throughout the course of the ECRG Project, sponsorship has been provided for Michele Smyth to undertake research contributing to the award of a PhD degree in the e-consultation field. The topic for this research is "Exploring capacity for youth participation in online public consultation".

The Northern Ireland Youth Forum (NIYF) is a key agency in current youth participation activity. For over 25 years the forum has been a central force in developing mechanisms for enabling youth participation across Northern Ireland. Working with the 14–25 age group, NIYF currently delivers a number of programmes that characteristically incorporate innovative techniques and a high level of interactivity. These programmes are delivered in various ‘real world’ settings such as youth clubs.

Through discussions with NIYF, a shared research interest in e-enabled approaches to consultation and their potential capacity to enrich current youth consultation activities has been established and access has been negotiated to conduct a research programme. This research explores the capacity for e-enabling appropriate aspects of youth participation in public consultation within existing structures in Northern Ireland. Various stakeholder perspectives will be interpreted with a view to developing an online resource that has the potential to offer experiential learning opportunities on citizenship and its related themes within classroom settings.

Adopting an action research approach, this has involved shadowing a youth worker directly involved in engaging young people in public consultation processes. In keeping with the action research approach, cycles of research activity have been undertaken that observe practice, and then identify and implement appropriate e-enabled interventions. These interventions and emerging issues are observed and these subsequently inform the next cycle in an iterative process.

The purpose of the cyclical enquiry is to iteratively inform the design of appropriate online mechanisms that may be used by NIYF to complement their existing consultation work. During the consultation processes, where appropriate, an intervention in the form of an e-enabled component has been introduced. To date, a website using wiki technology has been set up to act as a platform for complementary e-consultation activity The youth e-consultation website Over the last 12 months a number of online technology interventions have been introduced: discussion forum software and online survey software. The table below serves as a guide for consulting bodies approaching NIYF to undertake a consultation on their behalf, illustrating the opportunities and constraints of the methods listed.

The table illustrates e-consultation methods NIYF currently offers; note, however, that we are continually developing methods and trying out different technologies. Any of these methods can be tailored and combined to fit specific consultation requirements.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

PROMOTION: Whatever the method - it is essential that it be appropriately promoted.

TIMEFRAMES: As a general rule of thumb, an ‘activity’ period of 6-8 weeks should be accommodated within the planned timeframe. Please note this does not include recruitment, setting up & reporting after the event.

INCENTIVES: You may wish to provide incentives for participating, depending on budgetary constraints, as these can encourage participation

Thus far, a number of issues have emerged:

[NIYF: Respondent Recruitment]

Recruiting respondents for a consultation process and maintaining interest throughout the process is a key issue. Participants need to know why it is important for them to take part. What specifically is at stake? In what way will their contributon, and its impact, count?

As young people give up some of their free time, NIYF offers incentives to participate in their face-to-face activity when resources permit. Although no incentives for participating online have been offered to date, the possibilities for offering music downloads or other such gratuities may be explored.

[[NIYF & Child Protection]

The nature of the NIYF work with young people carries with it legal and ethical responsibilities in terms of providing a safe and secure enviroment free from the threat of harm. Upon introducing these online methods it became quickly apparent that a careful approach would be necessary in order to ensure that these requirements were met. During observations of the face-to-face consultation processes, it became apparent that online mediums' capactiy to facilitate anonymity could prove beneficial, particularly when discussing sensitive issues.

In particular, the discussion forum software posed a threat because, in its generic form, it allowed anyone to register and post messages. It was paramount that those registered must be young people and that they adhere to a code of conduct. The registration process was, therefore, customised to ensure that only young people could register and that they agreed to the code of conduct established. While this process caused a slight delay between registration and participation, the safety of participants was considered by far the more important issue.

Another generic aspect of the discussion forum also posed a threat; the fact that the forum was available 24-7 meant that it required particularly vigilant moderation. A facility was set up to alert the moderator via e-mail when a post to the forum had been made and it became necessary for the moderator to check for posts at regular intervals, including evenings and weekends, in case any inappropriate material was posted.

Despite a desire on the part of Michele and NIYF to roll out the online consultation activity to as wide an audience as possible - child protection considerations have hindered this development. It is now believed that adequate safeguards have been developed incorporating verifiable registration and vigilant moderation with any generic loopholes allowing access having been closed.

[NIYF Consultation: Perceived Benefits]

A number of perceived benefits have been observed to date; Young people participating have expressed their enthusiasm for the discussion forum environment. Likewise, the Consultation coordinator commented on the usefulness of having a platform that allowed young people to continue their conversations over a longer period.