CODE and the United Nations Development Programm (UNDP) have engaged in a promising collaboration. We share the ambition to nurture the creativity, innovativeness and collaborative attitude of all citizens interested in achieving change.
“Codesigning with youth in Kosovo” (2015) is the first project that prototypes the appliance of codesign methodologies (collaborative design research activities) within UN in Kosovo together with local students of University of Pristina and young people of Kosovo. This is done through a series of events, films and everyday stories that may help connecting the personal life of the youths with the abstract and general societal challenges of the region, marked by the previous war.
According to the UN, youth in Kosovo face serious challenges in participating in the public life. It specially manifests itself in: Young people are not part of public discussions. Young people’s voice is not heard in policy-making or decisions-making. Young people are discouraged to participate in public life. Young people’s concerns remain in informal spaces and are not addressed by the institutions.
We used a qualitative approach. What do these UN challenges actually mean in the context of the everyday? Through collaborative research activities grounded in the lived everyday life of youth in Kosovo, we sought to transform these intangible challenges into concrete and actionable ideas.
In a constructive opposition to the traditional ‘development gaze’ of ‘the blank canvas’ ready to be developed, the three recommendations below outline the qualitative approach applied in this project specifically focusing on what is already there.
Start with the concrete. Not with generalisations!
Youth engagement is an abstract term that have endless interpretations, but often we do not really know what it means. We need concrete examples to support a dialogue – stories about protesting at the university, blogging about activites in Gjilan/Gnjilane or starting up an arts center.
Gather around concerns and aspirations. Segments don’t exist!
When inviting people to participate, the invitation needs to resonate with their lived everyday. Somthing has to be at stake as a reason to engage. Categories like ’young’ does not necessarily resonate among young people as something to identify with, but concrete concerns and aspirations like a closed down cinema in Gjilan/Gnjilane does.
Work from wat is already there. Not from what is missing!
This project shows that youth in Kosovo are engaged in their society in various ways. But the engagements do not necessarily correspond with a UN understanding of engagement such as a public discussion or decision-making process. Engaging in collaborations is a way to work around what might seem missing from an outside perspective, and attune to the relevant and locally anchored things alredy going on.
Links
http://www.codesignwithyouthinkosovo.com/index.html
https://prezi.com/qa5l8d12b4hm/engaging-youth-in-kosovo-piloting-collaborative-design/
Contact
Maria Søbroe
1988 / Denmark
maria.soebroe@gmail.com
Rasmus Michaëlis
1988 / Denmark
rasmusmichaelis@gmail.com
Toke Frello
1988 / Denmark
