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Using virtual reality to increase civic participation in designing public spaces

Municipalities increasingly seek to include citizens in decision-making processes regarding local issues, such as urban planning. This paper presents a case study on using Virtual Reality (VR) in a process of civic participation in the redesign of a public park. The municipality included citizens in intensive co-design activities to create three designs for the park and engaged the neighbourhood community in co-decision, in the form of a ballot. Through the civic participatory process, we studied the effectiveness of using VR technology to engage the community in participating in the co-decision process. The three designs were presented using highly realistic 360˚ visualisations and the effects on engagement were compared between various devices: VR headsets, smartphones, tablets, and computers. Viewing the designs in 2D paper plans was also included in the comparison. The study included over 1300 respondents that participated in the ballot. A statistical analysis of the collected data shows that participants viewing the 360˚ rendered images with VR technology expressed a significantly higher engagement in the co-decision process than those using their computer at home or viewing 2D paper plans. The paper describes the complete participatory design process and the impact of the e-governance used on the target group as well as on the actors organizing the e-governance process. We discuss how the use of new technology and active presence of a voting-support team inspired citizens to participate in the co-creation process and how the investment in this procedure helped the local authorities to generate support for the plans and strengthen its relationship with the community. The use of realistic visualisations that can be easily assessed by citizens through user-friendly technology, enabled a large and diverse audience to participate. This resulted in greater visibility of municipal efforts to enhance the living environment of citizens and is therefore an important step in increased civic engagement in municipal policy-making and implementation.

Angry Together or Agitated Alone?

Research on the spatial variation in ‘populist’ and ‘anti-establishment’ voting focuses on the role of ‘left behind places’, where these parties are particularly successful in regions that have been left behind economically or culturally. Applying this perspective to the German case, this paper examines the spatial distribution of ‘populist’ and ‘anti-establishment’ voting. Using micro-data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and official regional statistics at NUTS 3 level, we construct a multilevel model to investigates the roles of socio-economic and demographic contextual and individual level determinants with the intention to vote for AfD, die Linke, and radical right or ‘anti-establishment’ parties in general in the 2017 federal election. Specifically, we explore how social capital – encompassing interpersonal relations and civic engagement – affects the likelihood of voting for these parties. Although social capital is commonly thought of as a shielding effect against ‘populist’ and ‘anti-establishment’ voting and strengthening political representation, its influence on anti-establishment voting remains vague. Based on original survey data from 2017, the results show that indicators of interpersonal relations and civic engagement in networks of civil society, specific forms of social capital, seem to play an important role in affecting voting behaviour, revealing that civically involved individuals are more likely to support established democratic parties, rather than voting for a ‘populist’ or ‘anti-establishment’ party.

Social Media and Political Participation

This paper presents the results of a literature review in regard to Social Media and participation. Besides that, to understand the meaning and impact of Social Media on elections, we show field results from the 2010 and 2011 elections in the Netherlands. There are several challenges when it comes to engaging people in party politics. The current findings in literature show us that previous efforts to shape public participation with prior Internet tools did not meet expectations. With Social Media this could change, because participation seems to be the key concept that explains the difference between ‘old’ web and ‘new’ Social Media. In the Netherlands, Social Media did not significantly influence voting behaviour during the local elections (2010/2011). But, during the national elections (2010), politicians with higher Social Media engagement got relatively more votes within most political parties. In conclusion, we propose a future research agenda to study how political parties could benefit from Social Media to reinvent and improve the way they work with their members and volunteers. Notice: © IFIP, 2011. This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of IFIP for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2011, Volume 6847/2011, 25-35, Boston: Springer.

Teaching protest and pressure as participation

Nixon and Metiary argue that the notion of protest needs to be included in the global education system as a distinct activity. It needs to take its place alongside other social sciences and humanities courses in the school curricula. They stress that the ability to impact society, to incite societal change, to participate through more means than voting, needs to be taught. It needs to be implemented into the global education system.

Behind Left and Right

Versterken van stemintentie onder jongeren in het middelbaar beroepsonderwijs

Hoe kan het onderwijs worden vormgegeven zodat mbo-jongeren worden gestimuleerd om te gaan stemmen? In dit onderzoek laten we de resultaten zien van een exploratieve evaluatie van drie sets met evidence-informed leermiddelen met als doel de stemintentie van jongeren te verhogen. De leermiddelen richten zich op (1) informatie over het stemproces, (2) in gesprek gaan over wel of niet stemmen en (3) gesprekken over maatschappelijke onderwerpen in combinatie met het invullen van een stemadviesapplicatie. De leermiddelen zijn gegeven door negen docenten en geëvalueerd door middel van docentinterviews en studentvragenlijsten (N = 172). Uit de resultaten kan worden opgemaakt dat docenten en studenten positief zijn over de praktische benadering in de leermiddelen. Tevens blijkt uit de resultaten dat de leermiddelen studenten inzicht geven in hun politieke voorkeur en dat zij leren het gesprek over stemmen met elkaar aan te gaan. Dit stimuleert mogelijk politiek zelfvertrouwen. Deze resultaten scheppen positieve verwachtingen voor de mogelijke effectiviteit van de lessen die kan worden getoetst in vervolgonderzoek.--How can education be designed to encourage students in vocational education to vote? We present the results of an explorative evaluation of three evidence-informed lessons aimed at increasing young people’s intention to vote. The three lessons focus on (1) information about the voting process, (2) engaging in discussions about whether or not to vote, and (3) discussions about socio-political issues combined with the use of a voting advice application. The lessons were taught by nine teachers and evaluated through teacher interviews and student questionnaires (N = 172). The results indicate that both teachers and students responded positively to the practical approach of the teaching materials. Additionally, the materials provided students with insight into their political preferences and helped them engage in discussions about voting. This potentially fosters political self-efficacy. These findings create positive expectations regarding the lessons’ potential effectiveness, which can be examined in follow-up research.