Workshop: Bringing a youth voice to politics

A one-day workshop exploring how young people can play a more active role in politics will take place at the University of Lincoln next month.

Experts from the University’s School of Social and Political Science will host the free event, ‘Young People’s Politics: Strengthening youth citizenship and political participation’, on Friday 5th September 2014 at the Brayford Pool campus, between 9.30am and 5.40pm.

It will examine the challenges and opportunities that young women face in politics, lowering the voting age to 16, how educational institutions overseas encourage their students to get involved in politics, and the diversity of political engagement.

The event, which is open to members of the public, is funded by the Political Studies Association (PSA), the national professional association for political scientists. One role of the PSA is to examine what politics means to young people, how they participate in democracy, and how the so-called ‘Generation Y’ can be encouraged to participate more widely in civic and political engagement. 

The workshop will also see the launch of the PSA’s ‘Charter for Citizenship’, which aims to persuade leaders of universities and colleges across the UK to make a public declaration of support for citizenship education in higher education.

Dr Ben Kisby from the School of Social and Political Science is helping to organise the event. “Getting involved in politics is hugely important, and this workshop is a chance to find out more about how things work on a youth level, and what barriers young people might be facing,” said Ben, who is one of the coordinators of the PSA’s specialist group on Young People’s Politics.

“The idea behind the charter is encourage young people at further or higher education campuses to take part in British democracy. By signing up, universities would declare a public interest in developing political knowledge and understanding, democratic skills, and values that will enable young people to engage in such participation.”

The charter was one of the key policy proposals put forward in the PSA-sponsored report Beyond the Youth Citizenship Commission: Young People and Politics, which was published in April 2014. 

The event is open to University staff, students and members of the public, with places allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Places must be registered in advance by emailing Ben Kisby.