CPL (12) 12 PART 2

Young people and new information and communication technology : a new opportunity for local democracy¹²

Rapporteurs: Dario GHISLETTA Switzerland,
Chamber of Local Authorities, Political Group: SOC
and
Oleksandr POPOV Ukraine,
Chamber of Local Authorities, Political Group: SOC
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1. Introduction

The Culture and Education Committee of the Chamber of Local Authorities wished to produce a report on this subject so as to raise local elected representatives' awareness of the potential of New Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to promote young people's participation in local public affairs and hence prepare them for their future role as citizens. ICT may also lead to new forms of citizenship and it will of course be necessary to take account of the fact that ICT is continuing to develop rapidly.

This report can in addition be seen against the background of the European Year of Citizenship through Education, declared by the Council of Europe in 2005, and constitutes a tangible contribution by the Congress to that event.

The report also follows on from the earlier work done by the Congress's Culture and Education Committee to revise the European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life. The revised Charter has since been adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the form of a recommendation to member states [Recommendation (2004) 13].

Section II 3 of that Charter states in particular that "Information and communication technologies can offer new possibilities for informing and allowing the participation of young people. ... Local and regional authorities should therefore use these technologies in their information and participation policies, on the condition that access to them is guaranteed for all young people in terms of places of access to and training in these new tools."

In light of the apparent disinterest of young people in local democracy issues, ICT can therefore offer local authorities a means of reviving their interest, showing them local democratic processes in a more attractive light and encouraging them to take an active part in debates and consultation processes of relevance to them so as to prepare them for their future active citizenship.

Lastly, this report also aims to take account of the conference held in Komsomolsk, Ukraine, (24-25 June 2005) on the implementation of the revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life and of the conference's conclusions, which focus in particular on dissemination of the Charter among the parties concerned in Europe and on the exchange of good practices regarding its implementation.

So as to facilitate reading of this report, the abbreviations and technical terms used are defined and explained in a glossary to be found at the end of the document.

This report is based on three Council of Europe instruments:

- the revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life, adopted by the Committee of Ministers [Rec (2004) 13], [Rec 128 (2003)] and [Res 152 (2003)] of the Congress;
- the Resolution to foster the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education systems in Europe, adopted at the 21st session of the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education, Athens, Greece, 10-12 November 2003 [ MED 21-10];
- the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on electronic governance ("e-governance") [Rec (2004) 15].

Lastly, mention must also be made of the Declaration on Human Rights and the Rule of Law in the Information Society [CM (2005) 56 final], adopted at the Warsaw Summit in May 2005, part 7 of which states in particular “Member states should examine the use of ICT in fostering democratic processes with a view to strengthening the participation, initiative, knowledge and engagement of citizens, improving the transparency of democratic decision making, the accountability and responsiveness of public authorities.”

The rapporteurs thank the expert, Bernard Dumont, General Rapporteur at the hearing held on this subject on 8 April 2005, for his key contribution to this report.

2. Local Authorities and ICT

All of Europe's regions, cities and even many of its smaller local authorities now have websites. The investment required to set them up is not very substantial and they are cheap to update. Even so, neither the graphics – often very staid - nor the information featured encourage young people to explore them, let alone participate. Where democratic life is concerned, there are mainly reports of council meetings, some of them in video form, announcements of encounters with elected representatives or their agenda. Any content that might be relevant to young people seems aimed above all at parents looking to "keep their children busy" during the school holidays or useful information for school enrolments. It is clear that young people are regarded as "passive objects", often represented by adults, and rarely as "players" who express their views and inform other young people.

However, local and regional authorities do not pursue the same aims as education systems where ICT is concerned and can therefore afford to play on their fun side. For most young people, information technology and the Internet are neither a means of learning nor a means of finding things out but solely a support for computer games and easy, free downloading of music and films. Consequently, "Any policy or action designed to promote youth participation must […] involve some element of fun and enjoyment" [Rec (2004) 13, preamble]. The creators of websites and those who run and update them must incorporate modes of expression - graphics and language – geared to young target audiences, enabling them to identify with the sites and feel a sufficient level of trust to want to contribute, thereby participating in the democratic life of their district or region.

These youth-oriented initiatives must therefore obviate the risk of young people feeling locked out or disaffected, by taking account of the way young people actually use ICT and how they see it.

Nevertheless, a cautionary note should be sounded:

ICT is not a panacea for solving all the problems of communication between local and regional authorities and young people or for giving young people greater incentive to participate in local democratic life. In more down-to-earth terms, this technology is an additional means of communicating and above all reaching the young people that other traditional media, such as the printed press, fail to reach.

It should also be pointed out that ICT has brought major changes in educational methods and processes, particularly in schools. This means that local and regional authorities with educational responsibilities should work closely with education establishments to take account of this development.
3. Encouraging the participation of all

Access to ICT is not equal throughout Europe: there are technological differences (facilities, infrastructures) from one country to another as well as within each country, between regions and between urban and rural areas. There are still strong differences too in individual expertise, and the "risk of a digital divide" is now realised and taken into account by all political decision-makers.
"The provision of e-governance services should seek to bridge the digital divide by adapting technologies in order to make them accessible to all user groups, regardless of any individual, social or cultural characteristic or geographical location." [Rec (2004) 15]

Efforts to promote youth participation in local democratic life via ICT must take these inequalities into account in order to narrow the gap and ensure that the most underprivileged are not deprived of these new tools of communication and information access.

Participation of girls, young people finding it difficult to communicate and the most underprivileged
"Special attention should be paid to promoting the participation in local and regional life of young people from disadvantaged sectors of society and from […] minorities." [Rec (2004) 13, 3]

This consideration seeks to prioritise two categories of young people:
· Firstly girls remain less drawn to high-tech tools and are therefore less intensive users of the ICT than boys.

Local and regional authorities must therefore ensure that they encourage girls to make use of these means of communication by providing them with possibilities for training and above all expressing themselves.

This might be done initially by enabling them to dialogue with one another in on-line forums for example, and then swiftly integrating them into editing teams, giving recognition to their ability to listen and communicate, as well as their artistic skills.

· Then local decision-makers must alleviate the difficulties for young people who have no means of accessing web-related technologies at home. Their needs are two-fold: access to facilities – with high-performance hardware and broadband access to avoid frustration and negative comparisons with what other young people have – and assistance for exploring, appropriating and mastering these tools, which requires guidance from someone else, preferably other young people well integrated into local life and close to the young people concerned. It is important to take account of the natural obstacles that young people might encounter in terms of written language (the keyboard remains a prime interface with the computer) and representation of information and verbal or other communication.

For these two categories, it is important not to overlook the very widespread use of technologies not utilising the Internet such as mobile telephones and text messaging, which also offer the advantage of conveying communication that is either not written or written in greatly simplified coding. Young people, particularly as they are keen radio listeners, are in the habit of responding to opinion surveys and to competitions, most of which unfortunately require some kind of payment.

Local and regional authorities might, for example, text the young people in their area, asking their opinion before taking a decision affecting them, or inviting them to vote on projects or artistic works by other young people etc.

A way out of anonymity and individualism

ICT has a paradoxical role here, of which policy-makers need to be aware. Many young people take refuge in the virtual worlds offered by game technologies, particularly the networked role-play games that enable them to live under pseudonyms, becoming dual personalities and isolating themselves from the world around them. This situation is to be combated as there is a risk of young people losing touch with their environment. Then again, ICT can provide young people with a way out of anonymity if it enables them to express themselves, talk about their lives and their plans and dialogue with other young people locally or further afield.
If young people are to take an interest in local democracy they must be encouraged to participate in life in society and made aware of their place and potential role in their human environment. Local and regional authorities must therefore take this phenomenon into account and seek to remedy it, through the involvement of young people capable of understanding these situations and identifying young isolated individuals and then running activities that can link these people up again with the real society around them.

Services for young people in rural areas
"Young people living in rural areas should not have to endure or expect a lower level of social services and provision than those living in urban areas." [Rec (2004) 13, 26 i]

Local and regional authorities must exploit high-tech developments to find solutions geared to the geographical environment (for example using wi-fi in mountain areas or sparsely populated districts, where ADSL cannot be installed). It is important that young people in these areas stay in contact with the local authorities and can feel involved, that they can participate - from where they are - in the life of the community. That requires a few precautions on the part of elected representatives:

- do not display information on town life and activities that are accessible solely to young people in urban districts;
- facilitate exchanges between young people in urban districts and those in rural areas, for example through forums or blogs with photos and comparisons of lifestyles;
- enable young people in rural areas to express their expectations and needs through participation, from where they are, in website editorial teams and the writing of articles or features;
- develop a close-knit mesh of public multimedia facilities with broadband connection in rural areas.

Taking account of the diversity of the young people concerned

Encouraging everyone to participate does not mean that it is possible to cater for all young people in the same way or offer them the same activities. Just as particular caution was advised when dealing with girls and with young people in rural areas, age differences need to be taken into account and it is advisable to make sure that there are different messages and activities for young children, pre-adolescents and adolescents.
4. Help to train facilitators (outside education systems)

“In order to develop the local and regional youth association sector, local and regional authorities should through appropriate measures lend their support, in p articular to organisations which train facilitators and leaders of youth clubs and organisations, as well as youth workers, who play a vital part in life at local and regional level." [Rec (2004) 13, 5]

Training for these professionals incorporates mastery of ICT-related tools as well as knowledge of the licit and illicit uses made of them by young people. It must also be geared to developing the citizen and their responsibility within the community and encouraging participation in full knowledge of one's rights and scope for expression.

To help facilitators acquire those skills, develop them and above all regularly update them in step with the rapid development of technologies, it is important to encourage the creation and backing of virtual groups of professionals, offering in particular areas for:

· dialogue
· exchanges of experience
· exchanges of digital resources
· on-line training

5. Leaning but not relying on education systems

"In order to achieve real youth participation […] this entails developing participation training for young people, keeping them informed, providing them with means of communication, supporting their projects, and recognising and giving a higher profile to young people’s dedication to community causes and voluntary work." [Rec (2004) 13, 42] 

"The generalisation of ICT-based teaching practices in educational systems should include:

- providing teachers and pupils with infrastructure, software facilities and broadband Internet access, sufficient in both quantity and quality to ensure that ICT-based teaching activities can be realised and integrated into the curricula of schools;
- providing broadband Internet access in schools, available to pupils outside classroom hours, particularly in documentation centres." [MED 21-10, 1.2-1.3]

"Local and regional authorities should, in partnership with young people, voluntary organisations, educational authorities and employers, develop systems which recognise and validate voluntary activity in the formal education system and in employment." [Rec (2004) 13, 51 ii]

"The generalisation of ICT-based teaching practices in educational systems should include: developing the widespread validation and recognition of skills in the area of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and enhancing their use in the classroom." [MED 21-10, 1.5] Education systems are committed to integrating ICT but local and regional authorities cannot rely on those systems regarding every aspect of these new communication tools. On the one hand, ICT is regarded as a tool for learning rather than communication or creativity and, on the other hand, the resources available are limited.

Local and regional authorities must envisage collaboration, partnership, resource-sharing with education systems, with each clearly understanding the other's specific objectives in terms of ICT use among young people.

Courses on democracy

"It is essential that young people learn about participation and democracy while in school and that courses on democracy, participation and citizenship are available and properly resourced." [Rec (2004) 13, 15]

Local and regional authorities may contribute to the supplying of teachers with resources on democracy, for example: guides on educational activities for use in the classroom, on-line documentation and creation of wikis dedicated to democracy.

Local authorities can organise discussion forums for young people and teachers on topical subjects linked to current local authority projects so as to interest young people in local public life, and on themes relating to current national and European affairs.

They may also provide backing for the participation of teachers and pupils in projects sponsored by the European Commission such as SchoolNet, which foster teachers exchange programmes from EU countries and virtual exchanges for classrooms.

Assisting in-service training for teachers

"Policymakers should encourage developments in the teaching professions by: making training available to serving teachers at regular intervals throughout their careers, so that they can keep abreast of new teaching techniques and practices, in the light of research results in this field." [Rec (2004) 13, 2.3]

"Citizens’ trust, motivation and capacity to participate in e-enabled democratic processes should be enhanced through appropriate information, assistance and educational activities at all levels, and within the framework of education for democratic citizenship." [Rec (2004) 15, 4]

Local and regional authorities may support this further training for teachers by involving them in activities linked to the democratic life of young people and their outlets for expression via ICT. This will give teachers an insight, outside the school environment, into the other uses made of ICT by young people, their creativity and their involvement in life in society.

The appended description of work carried out in the Canton of Geneva as part of the "Eurocité Platform” project provides a good example of fruitful collaboration.

6. Backing youth mobility in Europe

"Local and regional authorities should support those associations or groups which favour the mobility of young people (young workers, students or volunteers) through exchange policies, and develop networking policies and an awareness of European citizenship." [Rec (2004) 13, 16]

If young people are to develop a sense of belonging to Europe they must gain a better knowledge of other countries and how people of their age live there. For that reason community bodies are encouraging youth mobility and intercultural exchanges.

A special effort can be made on such occasions to introduce young people and their teachers to the various European organisations and their fields of activity, as the general public is still confused and, for example, very often mixes up the European Union and the Council of Europe.

ICT can contribute to these goals too, and local and regional authorities should back these kinds of initiative. Examples could be:

· on-line articles written by young people describing how young people live in their city or region, "singing the praises" of coming to discover the place and meet them, even virtually; the articles could be illustrated with photos, videos and interviews;
· blogs written by young people who are on mobility schemes, explaining on a day-to-day basis what they do, what they discover, the differences they notice, to persuade their peers to join such schemes themselves.

Efforts like this, by young Europeans aimed at other Europeans, to encourage the development of European citizenship, could generate competitions, with prizes of travel grants or computer equipment for example, decided by young people voting via Internet or SMS.

To broaden the scope of exchanges, such initiatives must be backed up by assistance for language learning.
"Local and regional authorities should […] be ready to give them financial support, in order to promote language learning and intercultural exchanges, as well as exchanges of experience." [Rec (2004) 13, 17]

The tools are there but training is required to make optimum use of them, as with the use of translation devices or pronunciation aids. Those who run resource centres or digital facilities should be able to tell young people about them and how they should be used, complementing what is done or could be done in schools.

7. Involving political decision-makers

To implement a policy geared to taking advantage of ICT to promote youth participation in local democratic life, political decision-makers have to be trained in ICT and in other areas as well. They must be made aware of the potential of ICT for reaching young people and also of the differences between how they, as adults, perceive these technologies and what is possible with them, and what young people do on an everyday basis. This is particularly true of communication technologies, which are increasingly used by elected representatives and politicians and include: e-mail, chatrooms and forums.

To achieve this radical shift of viewpoint, political decision-makers must integrate in their entourage and in the teams responsible for communication, young people competent in these technologies, with insider expertise of the uses, language and codes deployed by young people in their area.

8. Ethics, codes of practice and supervision

Political decision-makers should bear in mind the problems connected with ICT use in the area of ethics and codes of practice. Every European country has adopted or will soon adopt regulatory or legislative texts including provisions governing the dissemination of information on the Internet and the protection of young people. The websites produced under the responsibility of local and regional authorities must respect those rules and be exemplary in this respect.

Youth participation in the writing of on-line columns and the hosting of blogs or forums must comply with a written charter that is easily accessible on-line and must undergo very regular checks by an official body.

9. Conclusion

ICT provides a whole host of potential tools for reaching young people and encouraging them to become involved in the democratic life of the local community. Strategic choices as to which technologies should be used to reach which young people can be based only on good knowledge of ICT, how it is used by young people and the strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats it presents. It is vital to diversify use of media and – in all cases – integrate young people themselves in the team responsible for communication and/or links with young people, providing them with the further training they might need and making them real players in on-line production (editors, journalists, animators, graphic designers, sound engineers). This will better enable young people to participate in the democratic life of the community they live in.

APPENDIX 1
Glossary

Useful websites

Overview of the ICT currently available

This is a brief overview of the ICT currently available, the uses made of them by young people and the problems that they might raise.

Mobile telephony and SMS

The mobile phone is a tremendously popular communication medium among young people and sometimes even the very young, as parents find it a reassuring means of keeping contact with their children. But in addition to verbal communication, these telephones may be used to exchange short text messages known as SMS. It must be borne in mind that text messages are very heavily used by young people to communicate, often somewhat idiosyncratically. While the messages are written, the rules have little to do with normal language. Above all the texts must be short as the number of characters per message is limited and the keypad is impractical.. « 4eva«  is shorthand for « forever« , which is apparent when read aloud, but there are also rather more impenetrable acronyms such as « ALOL«  for « Actually Laughing Out Loud«  and various smileys of the type previously used in e-mail such as : - )  representing J.
In this way young people have created a new language – not readily understood by parents and adults in general – enabling them to easily share their emotions, feelings and desires, often on a strongly humorous note.

E-mail

This type of communication – the prime communication tool carried by Internet – is now commonplace, even among political decision-makers. It is a simple and effective means of communication between elected representatives and the electorate, shortening – at least in appearance – the channels of access. Nevertheless the usual rules of written communication are not generally applied by young people, who prefer simplified modes of expression (cf. SMS codes above).

Websites

These means of displaying and disseminating information is widespread in local authorities and also in political parties, in some cases directly used by elected representatives. To be accessible to young people, their design and the means of expression used must be tailored to the target audience. Furthermore, they must be brought to the attention of the general public through linkage to search engines like Google.

Chat and messenger facilities

These allow real-time conversation, via Internet, based on texts that may be enriched in the case of Messenger with document transfer and videos filmed on a webcam. They may be used, for example, for remote personalised advice.

Forums

These are used for asynchronous dialogue. They are particularly valuable for opening up virtual areas for opinion-swapping on specific themes, bringing together virtual interest groups. To work well, a forum must be based on a specific theme and have a moderator whose role is to guide off-subject discussion to other forums and supervise the content of comments exchanged in the light of the applicable legislation. As their name suggests, forums are well suited to free expression by citizens, particularly by young people.

Blogs

Blogs are a recent addition to on-line tools and are perfectly suited to collective expression. They are personal journals published on the Internet using very simple freeware. Bloggers can talk about what they do and what they like, show photos and above all start up discussions with their virtual visitors. Most of the sites hosting blogs ask their users to comply with a charter of good conduct, deleting the blogs that fail to do so. Some host sites invite visitors to give blogs marks out of ten and highlight the top scorers. Bloggers usually provide links to other recommended blogs, weaving a virtual network where anyone is free to visit, debate, criticise, share their viewpoint or experience and, of course, create their own site.

Fig.1. Example of a blog host in Belgium

This phenomenon is booming and might be promoted by local and regional authorities as a means of encouraging young people who are already involved in the democratic life of a region or city to make themselves known and explain what they do.

However, for forums and blogs to assist learning of these new democratic practices, it must be possible for a mediator to intervene and monitor content and prevent excesses (insults, racist abuse etc).

Wiki

This is a dynamic website allowing any visitor to add to or change the pages as they wish. It can be used not only to quickly pass on information but also to structure it so that people can easily find what they want. The principle is straightforward: it uses a collaborative document drafting model, meaning that any visitor is able to modify the page they see on their screen. The changes are then recorded and all previous versions remain accessible. So an article is written by a first author, added to by a second and then a visitor might correct any errors they spot while browsing the site.

Fig.2. Example of a wiki: the wikipedia

SPIP
The acronym stands for the French name "Système de publication pour l'internet partagé" (shared web publishing system). This freeware enables users to collectively edit a publication site, such as an on-line magazine.
SPIP is very widely used by structured networks, public or private institutions and also individuals.

Fig.3. Example of citizens using SPIP to express themselves (http://www.place-publique.fr/espacejeunes/)

Web-based radio and television

Internet has enabled old technologies to take advantage of this new medium in order to reach a broader and above all motivated target audience, as these radio and television channels are not the kind of thing that one finds by accident. The fact that far less initial outlay is required to launch these channels makes them easier to create. This could be a means of getting young people interested in the activities of journalists and facilitators whose messages are more readily received by other young people.

APPENDIX 2
Case studies presented at the hearing on 8^th April 2005

1. Political choices and experiments at Piteå in Sweden
From information presented by Gunilla Dahlblo.

The ICT are a learning aid for people of all ages. They are also useful in helping school improvements, for example as an instrument for evaluation analysis or a channel for finding information on school improvement work elsewhere in the world". Swedish National Agency for school improvement

The work carried out at the CMIT (Centre for Media and IT) for the schools in the Piteå municipality illustrates the political choices pursued in Sweden for many years now to exploit the ICT for the benefit of communication, equality and democracy.

In the 1980s, computers were a thing of the future. Money was invested but there were few users and an average of one computer to go round between 7 pupils.

In the 1990s, computers began to be used in earnest. IT became a subject at school and it was said that "teachware would solve all problems".

Between 2000 and 2005, tools useful for education development emerged, promoting creativity, communication, democracy and equality. For the Itis 1999-2002 programme, the Swedish government invested 183 M€ and trained 70,000 teachers.

Today the ICT and the media are inextricably linked. Computers are part of children's everyday lives, and the long-term benefits are visible in terms of education and communication.

Young people have picked up new habits, like chat and e-mail, webpages, multimedia productions and digital school journals. Teachers and pupils are on an equal footing. Pupils know more about ICT tools, have more creative ideas and master the language of ICT better than the teachers. This new language is also a new means of being seen and heard, particularly for children with learning difficulties and for girls.

The CMIT develops projects using the ICT to promote equality and democracy, particularly in connection with film festivals, web-based radio and publishing (web portals, CD, DVD). The centre is geared to research, training and support. Teachers need assistance, and both the ICT and the media are continuing to develop.

Fig.4. Taken from the CMIT website

2. The Eurocité Platform of the Canton of Geneva (Switzerland)
From information presented by Frédéric Esposito, at the Council of Europe on 8 April 2005

The Eurocité platform associates Geneva University, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Economy of the Canton of Geneva and the Confederation Office for integration. It is a pilot project, which since 2004 has provided a programme of activities combining youth education (for 15-19 year-olds) and teacher training to help ensure that people are better informed on European issues and to foster real democratic debate on Europe. It is also part of a more general project on electronic democracy.

The further training provided for teachers in "Euro-workshops" equip them with different techniques to raise their pupils' awareness of European issues and encourage active citizenship that is both European and Swiss: educational files (on neutrality, direct democracy, economic integration, human rights etc) and pedagogical tools incorporating the ICT (in particular a film on DVD: "L’Europe, parlons-en… " (Europe: let's talk about it), and a website: http://www.eurocite.ch).

To interest young people in European issues, the project takes an approach based on citizenship and the discovery of forms of expression of democracy.

Use of the project site as an information portal and the organisation of electronic referendums in schools on questions concerning Switzerland and Europe are intended to cultivate young people's knowledge of local and national political issues, while exploring new forms of participation in democratic life.

These training sessions also take account of teachers' working context: number of hours available to organise a Euro-workshop and teachers' role in the teaching programme (history, citizenship education). Therefore, both the concept for the Euro-workshop and the materials proposed must be geared to that situation as far as possible.

The project started up in Geneva but the aim is to take it into other Swiss cantons and also frontier regions (Germany, Austria, France and Italy in particular). The project is about being Swiss and European, with the emphasis on local and regional aspects.

Fig.5. Screenshot from the EuroCité project web site

¹ For debate in the Standing Committee (See Rule 15 of the Rules of Procedure) Deadline for tabling amendments: at the latest 4 pm on the eve of the day when the texts to which they refer are to be discussed (Rule 27 of the Rules of Procedure)

² For debate in the Standing Committee – see Article 15 of the Rules of Procedure of the Congress - Objections to the Standing Committee procedure must reach the Chief Executive of the Congress a clear week before the meeting of the Standing Committee; if 5 members object, the report will be submitted to the Plenary Session.