Participation Posters -

Participation Posters: I get to decide too!

What does a better society look like where children and young people can genuinely have a say in their everyday lives? What happens when young people are excluded from participation and influence? And what is needed for effective involvement? These are the questions we explored in our latest project.

The Project

In collaboration with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Fundamental and Human Rights (EU Project CARES) and the Vorarlberg Ombudsman for Children and Youth, we organized a workshop in the summer of 2024 with young people from Vorarlberg aged 11 to 17. The result: a poster series on the topic of child and youth participation, which was handed over in January to Vorarlberg’s Minister of Education Barbara Schöbi-Fink and the Director of Education Dr. Heiko Richter. The posters aim to inform children and young people about their rights and highlight opportunities for participation.

Now displayed in all secondary schools in Vorarlberg, the posters were created by young people for young people. However, this is more than just a poster campaign. We aim to spark a genuine dialogue about why fewer and fewer young people are engaging and what we can do together to create good conditions and opportunities for youth participation.

Further goals

We want to actively pursue this topic further by involving all relevant stakeholders – from young people, student representatives, parents, and teachers to organizations and political decision-makers. Planned initiatives include educational materials for classroom lessons, activities with Vorarlberg’s student representatives, and a dialogue event with political representatives.

Christian Netzer (Youth Ombudsman) comments:
“Youth participation is an essential component of a democratic society, but it currently faces several challenges. Many young people feel insufficiently informed or motivated to engage politically or socially. Often, they lack the sense that their opinions have an impact. Structures tailored to youth for active involvement in decision-making processes are often missing, and their opinions are not taken seriously in decisions, even when they participate. Decisions are still often made by adults without genuine youth involvement. This poster campaign can and should strengthen youth participation and raise awareness among adults about this critical issue.”