Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 - 2 comments

Activism 3.0: what does the future hold for youth activism?

Imagine if you were to outline the future of youth activism. Imagine if you were to design an innovative activist campaign for young people – something that has never been seen before. What would it look like?

I hope you will share your ideas, campaigns, videos and pictures here at Conversations for a Better World. Starting today, IPPF, International Planned Parenthood Federation, will be leading the conversation “Activism 3.0″. We will be exploring creative and mind-blowing innovations in youth activism – and you are invited to participate.
Show us how it’s done.

This will be a way for you to showcase some of the campaigns, efforts and happenings you are most proud of in an engaging and creative way. Do you have examples of innovative advocacy/activism campaign (by young people) that other young people might find inspiring? As you can see, we have kick-started this discussion with some youth videos below.

We would love to hear from you, too. Blog, tweet and post your ideas at Conversations for a Better World as well as lessons learned and best practices in your community.

Those were the days when we could rely on distributing leaflets in front of parliamentarian forums. In the age of the Internet, connectivity, innovation and information overload, we – youth activists – will need to stand out to get the attention of decision makers, the public, their communities and the media. Future global challenges call for new and innovative ways of doing activism.

Share, blog, tweet, post!

Don’t hesitate to register and showcase top-notch, ground-breaking, compelling, cutting-edge and inspiring youth activism campaigns that we can all learn from, and that may inspire a new, young people in your community to become an activist.

• Create a blog at www.conversationsforabetterworld.com.
• Create a picture blog at Conversations for a Better World, and show  pictures from an innovative activist campaign or activist happening you were part of and explain in a few words why you are really proud of this happening/campaign.
• Create a short Youtube statement and share on Conversations for a Better World.  Share your vision for youth activism, a memory from an activist happening you were really proud of, or lessons learned from working as a youth activist in your countries. What does the future hold?
• Join us on Twitter and tweet about the future of youth activism (using #youthchange).
• Post your thoughts on the Conversations for a Better World Facebook Page

Below are some possible questions to get you started

• How are young people using new tools to do activism?
• What’s the most creative youth activist campaign ever?
• What are the DOs and DONTs when doing advocacy/activism work at the United Nations?
• Have you worked on an advocacy/activist campaign you are really proud of because it really stood out?
• How are young people, and youth organizations, using new activist tools?
• What does the perfect youth advocacy/activism campaign look like? Share experiences and best practices that will inspire young people?
• How can the future of communication technology help young people in their activism efforts?
• What are the lessons learned from young leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean? What works in terms of advocacy/activism, and how do you get your messages across?

The views expressed in this blog-post are solely those of the author.