Output 1.2: At least 1000 ‘Shadow Participants’ to Co-Laboratories recruited

Before attending a Co-Laboratory, each participant was asked to identify and recruit additional 10 ‘shadow participants’. This significantly enlarged the total number of participants and increased the validation of the results during each Co-Laboratory. Since participants themselves were representing a diverse mix of ethnic and social backgrounds, so did the additional participants, as they were likely to be identified within the socio-economic environment of each participant. Participants were however asked to try and identify representatives of different youth organizations or active youth/ civil society groups. By recruiting 10 shadow participants each, the total number of young people involved per Co-Laboratory reached 200. The shadow participants contributed through virtual means, through the website, the IdeaPrism™ or email, depending on the particular circumstances. In addition, however, the virtual participants were also in charge to reflect on the proceedings and also “broadcast” the progress of the project using their respective channels, i.e., via email, Twitter™, Facebook™, Blogs, YouTube™ movies, etc.

Concrete results / Monitoring

Including additional 200 young people into each Co-Laboratory through virtual means and ensuring that they were well connected to the actual participants that participate physically, the dissemination and outreach after the Co-Laboratories was strengthened significantly. The participation of these 200 virtual participants per Co-Laboratory was monitored through their interaction with the ideas and participants virtually (emails, website, IdeaPrism™, Facebook™ groups etc.), and through regular communication with the young people themselves, especially in the follow-up and dissemination phase. Having ten ‘shadow participants’ supporting each participant added confidence to her/his role after returning from the Co-Laboratory and provided a support platform to reach out further within the community, to local decision-makers as well as to policy-makers.

Follow-up Actions

The virtual participants were involved in the follow-up and dissemination of the outcomes of each Co-Laboratory and helped form a strong voice within their community promoting action ideas and solutions on how to increase democratic participation of young people.