From Participation to Real Impact

It is easy to look at a young person who isn’t engaging with an institution, organisation or public process and conclude that they simply don’t care. But disengagement and apathy are not always the same thing. Sometimes people stop participating because they have participated before and nothing changed. Sometimes they don’t see themselves represented in the spaces where decisions are being made. Sometimes they are told what their responsibilities are long before anyone explains what their rights, opportunities or influence could be. And sometimes, quite simply, they are tired of being spoken to instead of spoken with. If we genuinely want young people to engage, we need to make engagement meaningful.