Scottish Government

Research Summary 2005/04
Angus Whyte, Ella Smith, Inge Alberts, Ann Macintosh
International Teledemocracy Centre, Napier University

ISBN 0 7559 2611 0

This document is also available in pdf format (316k)

The views expressed in this report are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department or Scottish Ministers

Limited extracts from the text may be produced provided the source is acknowledged. For more extensive reproduction, please write to the Environment Group Research Co-ordinator, Scottish Executive, Area 1-J (south), Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ

The International Teledemocracy Centre carried out research between February and June 2004 to develop and test appropriate online tools and mechanisms to engage young people in dialogue on Radioactive Waste Management. Interviews and a literature review informed the research which also involved three focus groups of young people from across Scotland. They assessed a range of "e-engagement" tools on ease of use, appeal, and suitability for purpose; i.e. to help find information, decide, and express their own point of view, whether acting on their own accord or through a school or youth group meeting. The findings will inform plans to engage young people in Scotland on this and other complex policy issues.

Main Findings

• The study found interest and enthusiasm in using information and communication technology ( ICT) e-engagement tools, to take part in the debate on Radioactive Waste Management ( RWM) through groups that also meet face-to-face, i.e. school classes or youth groups. This is despite lack of awareness and mistrust of information on this issue and the challenges it is seen to represent for engaging the young. However there was little appetite for sustained involvement by individual young people acting on their own accord.
• The study shows that young people with an interest in using the Internet value online tools that can address their need to access information drawn from various sources and perspectives, and exchange views with their peers. Young people were motivated to become actively involved partly as a novel way of using ICT within organised group activity.
• The main barriers to young people's effective use of such tools are likely to be organisational: coordinating the provision and use of the tools and their content. The tools themselves should be designed with an emphasis on ease-of-use and accessibility
• Rather than seek one best approach, different combinations of tools are required for different circumstances. A 'one-size fits all' product may detract from the success of any future engagement exercise, since differences in language and culture (if not technical skill) are likely to exclude younger children on the one hand and older people on the other.
• It will require the active support of the education and community sectors to provide young people with realistic opportunities to use the tools to take part in the RWM debate.
• RWMspecialists and decision-makers should be directly involved in the e-engagement. There is a need for non-government stakeholders including environmental organisations to provide their input.
• There is a need for facilitators to lead discussion, face-to-face and online, as well as contributors of position statements and background facts. Some of these should be willing to be interviewed for online publication of their views or experiences, and may themselves be young people.

Introduction

Radioactive Waste Management is, perhaps more than any other, an inter-generational issue. Decision-making is therefore grounded by ethical issues about burdening future generations to any current decision. This factor, together with the Scottish Executive's commitment to principles of involving young people in decision-making, underlines the importance the Executive attaches to young peoples' participation in the ongoing debate on radioactive waste management.

In December 2003 the Scottish Executive Rural and Environmental Affairs Department commissioned the International Teledemocracy Centre to identify appropriate ways to engage young people in the debate.

Objectives and methodology

There were four phases to the research to address each of its objectives.

Phase 1 consisted of a literature and practice review, firstly of electronic participation, and secondly of best practice in engaging young people in Scotland and elsewhere. Interviews with leading participants in previous consultations complemented this review.

Phase 2 involved developing alternative tools for e-engagement to a prototype stage that illustrated their role and intended uses. These were to assist and encourage young people to find out about Radioactive Waste Management, decide their own point-of-view by appreciating others, and have their say by expressing and exchanging ideas or views on the issues and options raised, the decision-making process or its outcomes. The tools are described in Table 1.

Phase 3 piloted the tools with three groups of young people aged 14-21 across Scotland.

Table 1 ICT tools for e-engagement

Scenarios were developed to describe how the tools might be used in two situations; facilitated through school or youth groups, or self-directed by individuals acting on their own accord, but with online support.

Phase 4 was the assessment of the ICT tools. With the scenarios for reference, the focus groups gave structured feedback on their 'hands-on' testing of each tool, commenting on their ease of use, appeal, and suitability - firstly for finding information, then for deciding and expressing their own point of view.

The groups' comments were analysed to assess the suitability of each tool for self-directed or facilitated use, and consider how their use for engagement should be planned, also taking into account the best practice review. This informed development of the specification for a toolkit integrating the various tools tested.

Which tools for e-engagement?

The feedback we received from young people who tested the prototype tools and materials identified both the strengths and weaknesses of each tool for the purposes and contexts we considered, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Factual information presented for example in Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQ) form is essential but not sufficient to communicate the relevance of RWM to young people. A storytelling approach is critically important for this purpose, which blogs and video interviews may serve by giving personalised accounts of how lives are affected by RWM issues. This is also dependent on individuals from stakeholder groups contributing suitable material.

Figure 1 E-engagement tools fit to purpose

Figure 2 E-engagement tools fit to context

The issue map tool is well suited for showing the arguments for and against the options available for RWM when used for 'facilitated' e-engagement in organised group settings.

The discussion board is appropriate following similar threads of online discussion when used by individuals acting on their own accord, to exchange points of view. It also helps users form opinions and to make these known.

The game formats are very appealing to young people, even the 'look and feel' of a game being enough to convey an element of fun. A strong gaming element is needed to keep young people engaged in debate, using 'hooks' to engage attention such as point scoring and advancement through levels. The game and questionnaires formats are both structured approaches to obtaining responses to closed questions. Such questions can also be embedded in the more open-ended discussion board format.

Each approach has complementary strengths: -

• Questionnaires as a 'quick and easy' option;
• Games as the 'fun way to learn and take part' option;
• Discussion board for 'other people to get back to you' and exchange views.

The live question-answer panels provided by chat and streamed video help young people to appreciate other perspectives, as do blogs focusing on the experiences of individuals.

Important considerations

Despite their appeal to young people, the chat and game tools in particular would require acceptance by educational authorities, given the norm of discouraging their use in school or community education contexts.

The chat tool also must be designed and supervised/ moderated to ensure safe use by young people.

A 'one-size fits all' product may detract from the success of any future engagement exercise aimed at all population groups, since differences in language and culture (if not technical skill) are likely to exclude younger children on the one hand and older people on the other. Relevant groups should be consulted on how the tools may best be used to support the participation of younger and older age groups.

The participants were already members of groups engaged in discussion of current political issues, and the results may therefore not be representative of young people who (a) do not find face-to-face discussion appealing; or (b) do not find the internet appealing. The next stage should establish the extent of any such bias.

Recommended next steps

We believe the current study provides a sound basis for further developing and piloting an e-engagement package complemented by further work to assess that pilot as outlined below.

• Before further work is undertaken a Youth Reference Group representative of young people in Scotland should be established to help enlist the support of their peers and relevant stakeholder groups. The input of on-going initiatives such as the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Scottish Youth Parliament, Young Scot, Dialogue Youth and Highland Youth Voice would be highly desirable.
• Extensive discussion of the content and evaluation of a pilot e-engagement is needed, to secure the necessary partnerships with government, industry and non-government stakeholders (local as well as national). These would further develop the content, facilitation, success criteria and incentives for young peoples' continued involvement.
• The tools and content should be designed to cater for the widest possible age group, by finding an appropriate balance between accessibility and wide appeal. There is a trade-off between accessibility and using multimedia elements to enhance the general appeal of the tools.
• The toolkit should also be designed to avoid duplication of effort on the part of contributors.
• Translations to minority ethnic languages may also be desirable.
• Given rapid change in technology the selection of tools for e-engagement should be reviewed and there is a need for further research on the use of the issue map format. Although well established, this has not been previously applied in e-engagement with young people.

Conclusions

This study has usefully developed our understanding of the use of ICT to engage young people.
The lessons learnt through this work are equally applicable to engaging young people on other complex issues. This 'wider application' of e-engagement is an important result of the study.

If you wish to receive further copies of this Research Summary, or have any enquiries about the study, please contact:

Scottish Executive
SEPA Sponsorship and Waste Division
Area 1-J (North), Victoria Quay
EDINBURGH
EH6 6QQ
Tel: 0131 244 0199
Email: RadioactiveWasteTeam@scotland.gov.uk

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