Fostering youth inclusion, participation and local civic

engagement in the digital age

Leo Burd Department of Play

MIT Center for Future Civic MediaApril 13, 2011

4

Can technology

help change

this situation?

Although existing technologies could be used

to foster youth inclusion, participation and local civic

engagement, most tools are either too complex or lack

appropriate functionality for the task.

http://www.departmentofplay.org/

We aim to develop an easy-to-use, open-source digital toolkit with corresponding curricula and pedagogical guidance to help young people:

• Capture neighborhood knowledge by taking photographs, measuring distances, collecting data, recording interviews and constructing local maps

• Represent and share local information as “spatial narratives” integrating digital media and mapping in an online platform

• Organize civic engagement initiatives through an advocacy forum for children and adolescents to reflect, share, and act critically in their local communities.

Goals

Community working group

Community working groupSummer Institute 2010

organization of personally meaningful community events

What’s Up 2.0

• What’s Up <your community name here>

• Generic platform for local community outreach

• SMS integration

• Interactive call blasts

• Audio polls

• Web-based audio recording

• Multi-language, multi-voice support

• Location-based calls

GrassrootsMapping.orgwarren@mit.edu

Grassroots Mapping

Ongoing collaborations

For additional information

http://www.departmentofplay.org/

@deptofplay

departmentofplay@media.mit.edu