Panel 1: e-Participation: Fad or Future?

We’ve all heard about it. In fact, you’re probably doing it right now. Has e-Participation really arrived? There have been whispers and pointing, and you can be sure that ever so slowly, people in power and citizens alike are pointing to the internet as ‘the way of the future’. So what does that mean for youth voices in politics?

We only have to examine the last Federal election to get some idea of how politicians have suddenly realised that the Internet has immeasurable possibilities as a new platform for the public sphere. What’s particularly interesting to note is how badly some of them got it wrong – look no further than John Howard’s YouTube addresses, boring, bland, and belittled.

The original notion that the Internet is the premier place to access the voices of young people was correct, no matter how bad the execution. Although exclusively for those with computer access in the developed world at the moment, the far reaching capabilities of the online sphere mean we can watch, discuss, listen and blog when we like, where we like. If we’re able to capture the attention of others, the Internet is the supreme unmediated platform to disseminate our political and cultural views, and find a safe place to be critical of our democracy – in essence, we become watchdogs. In theory, it sounds fantastic. However it could also have some disastrous complications.

Who watches the watchdogs?

e-Participation is a fairly new notion, so here’s your chance to discuss whether it has the possibility to completely change the active citizenship and participation of the youth of Australia with the experts. Join Mark Pesce, inventor of VRML and author of five books including The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming our Imagination; Axel Bruns, author of Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage; Tony Walker, senior journalist and manager of ABC Digital Radio; Alan Rosenblatt, Associate Director for Online Advocacy at the Centre for American Progress Action Fund; Kate Raynes-Goldie, social web and online community expert with over a decade of Internet experience; Tom Dawkins, founder of our very own Vibewire Inc; and Jason Wilson, project manager and editor of youdecide2007.org.

Panel 2: Are you being heard? Youth voices in local government.

Local government. Nothing conjures up images of ridiculously worded development meeting, garbage pick up and public libraries more. But your local government is more than just a cleaner of bins. It’s the base of all government – though it may not appear as influential, being engaged in the political dealings of your local area, your physical community, is the first step to getting important issues noticed.

But is there any way young people can work with local governments online?

It should come to no surprise to anyone that much of the general young population is disengaged with politics. If they are disengaged at the “glamorous” national level, how does local government lure them online? Do we need flashy advertising campaigns? Maybe we could hand out prizes? Or is it in fact, a simple matter of local governments treating young people with less disdain? A community is a community, no matter how old you are, and we all belong. If the Internet is going to be the medium of the future, it’s time to shake off the old institutions and bring local government into the 21^st century.

In a panel chaired by Gabriel Watts, a resident of Wollongong who has recently completed a thesis on youth community legal education and sat on the National Youth Roundtable 2007, experts Matt Barker (International Centre for Excellence in Local e-Democracy), Cr David Wilson (City of Melbourne), Roger Holdsworth (Senior Research Associate at the Australian Youth Research Centre and editor and publisher of Connect), Ryan Foster (Brisbane City Council and Visible Ink) and Rey Reodica will discuss progressive ways to engage young people in their local governments.

Make sure you join us on the panels, which will be running day and night from the 8^th to the 12^th of April – this is your opportunity to learn from and argue with the best of the best about your future.