Let's vote!: a fundamental aspect of democracy explained to young people

<< Background >>We applied for this project because we were concerned about the rise of radicalism in Europe. We found that many Europeans, particularly young people, feel disconnected from the electoral process, leading to low turnout, particularly in regional and European elections. This disengagement allows radical political discourse to flourish with little opposition. Practical obstacles, such as unclear electoral registration procedures, also discourage participation. Young people are often drivers of social change, but their political engagement rarely translates into electoral participation. Our project aimed to create educational tools to help young people understand the importance of voting, reaching both politically engaged young people and those excluded from civic life. The four partner organisations worked together to address low youth participation, seeking to understand why previous efforts had not been successful and to develop new strategies. Our project has equipped young people with the understanding they need to engage in democratic processes and combat electoral disinterest.<< Objectives >>By implementing this project, we aimed to educate young people about the various electoral mechanisms and the stakes involved in elections. Our goal was to help them better understand complex electoral systems such as plurality, majoritarian, proportional, and mixed systems. Through the creation of an interactive online platform and a board game, we sought to make learning about these systems engaging and accessible, fostering greater civic participation among youth. Ultimately, we wanted to promote active citizenship by equipping young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, with the knowledge and tools to become more involved in democratic processes and civil life.<< Implementation >>We implemented: -Three transnational meetings. Those meeting were dedicated to planning and management (budget, progress, administration…).-A desk research, including data collection and the publication of the results.-The creation of a website and an educational board game about democracy and voting called “The Choice”.-A one-week learning mobility of youth workers during which participants learned about the desk research’s results, learned how to use the board game and the content of the website.-Activities in partner countries. Each partner implemented local activities on the theme of education to democracy using the tools created during the project ad aimed at local youngsters.-Multiplier events in each partner countries, during which other organisation and youth workers learned about the results and tools of the project.<< Results >>There were three concrete output of the project:1.The publication of a desk research in which partners researched the electoral system of their own country and compared them and explored the situation of young people and voting in their own country and compared them.2.The creation of an educational website3.The creation of an educational board game called “The choice”We involved more than 80 youngsters in the local activities. The results were: -Reduction in Political Disengagement: Participants reported their participation at the last European election and the last elections in 2024 (legislative in France, Portugal) -The improved Political Awareness of the participants-The empowerment of Youth Workers who gained access to innovative educational tools that enable them to better engage with young people