Building Democracy

Latest Ideas

• Nations TalkBack
  Video podcast series investigating the differences in UK regional government structures and programmes and their impact on citizens.
• The Trashcatchers (Phases 1, 2 and 3)
  Young people will engage in a global dialogue about environmental issues, looking at finding practical solutions at local level.
• Engaging Parliament; Communities Against Crime
  Communities accessing Parliament to influence Government through pioneering community solutions via the All Party Political Group for Victims of Crime.
• Postcode mailbox
  An email address for every postcode.
• Portfolio Vote
  Replace 'tick-box' politics with a modern voting service which captures the complexity of voters preferences and opinions.
• Collective Climate Action
  A visual representation of mass collective action on climate change - demonstrating a public appetite for political leadership and support.
• Campaign for Adventure for Young People
  Youth lead a campaign to ensure the right level of risk and adventure to avoid crime, flourish, show their potential.
• Your Shout
  Peer to Peer project that reaches out to marginalised young people to involve and campaign on their issues.
• friendsnextdoor.org
  friendsnextdoor.org is a 'one stop shop' community 2.0 website, which brings residents together for anything from petitioning to socialising...
• Who said we are hard to reach?
  Using community participatory research techniques to engage hard to reach individuals and communities in local decision making.
• Policy Slam
  Hold events to test a format for finding common ground and consensus among apparently differing positions on public policy issues
• Community Democracy
  Position national/regional/grassroots community organisations as a coalition to revivify the local / national democratic process
• Better Bristol
  An e-democracy programme empowering young people politically and socially to influence improvements in services and democracy in their city.
• Take Part
  A platform for exchange on getting your voice heard on European policy offering direct involvement with MEPs & policy makers.
• Text Pal Online
  A safe social-networking facility enabling professionals such as youth-workers, councillors and police-officers to engage and consult with local young people.
• Represent
  A 12-month online and face-to-face consultation process between young people and decision-makers leading to genuine high-level & grassroots change.
• London: My Kind of Generation
  An intergenerational film that highlights what older people give to London to make it great.
• Beyond the Vote
  We will hold three debates with politicians, policy makers and adult learners to explore the democratic processes in Scotland.
• Opposition
  Opposition will encourage wider political engagement by offering representation to non-voters in the next general election
• Pic amp; Mix
  Enable residents to "pick" publicly available information we hold and "mix" it with applications they already use on the internet.
• Moving Further Up
  Provide an accessible information resource on transition issues for young people who have learning disabilities, to influence government policy making
• The Cambridgeshire Parliament High Support Needs Committee
  The High Support Needs Committee: 3 people with complex/multiple disabilities representing their community, engaging with decision-makers at the Cambridge Parliament.
• Village Agents for Young People
  An action-research project to pilot the engagement of young people living in rural villages with the democratic process.
• NHS Prescription Saver
  Use technology to better educate patients when to take prescribed medications, how and when to re-order, saving the NHS millions.
• How do we make Sutton sustainable?
  Talk show events to influence policies and vision for a sustainable Sutton, with a big decision at the end.
• liberalise cannabis
  liberalise cannabis use, tax it, spend some of money on drugs education and more rehabilitation projects
• Creating Lifetime Neighbourhoods
  Enable older people to influence decision making and policy in the spheres of housing and neighourhood plannign and design.
• LocalEyes -- The VOICE
  A digital tool for every man, woman and child to "VOICE" themselves within their communities and social networks.
• Of by for the people
  A site with contributions from the public citing laws that they know of which need to be changed or updated
• Empowerment through Neighbourhood and Community Issues Forums Online
  An outreach and training campaign on how to organise very local online Issues Forums at the neighbourhood and community level.
• Canning Town Commnity Network
  Communities will be brought together to pool ideas and resources in order to tackle common social issues.
• Democratising devolution roadshow
  To raise awareness of devolution in Wales through seminars, an exhibition and online debate in four isolated communities.
• Litter Action Group
  Request litter removal / recycling by postal/zip code.
• Family PATCH
  Parents apart from their children for whatever reason feel stigmatised and PATCH wants to find ways to overcome this.
• Sex Lies and DVDs
  Youth-led project to get young people from diverse communities thinking and talking about their attitudes to sexual health and relationships
• Empowering Women: Are we effectively implementing recommendations which promote the need for women to participate and effectively engage in policy design?
  Identify and develop sustainable processes and methodologies across sectors which will involve effective participation of women in policy making
• Communicosm
  A socially-generated directory of online communities, tagged by interest areas, that organisations can use to find people to talk to.
• Speaking Up for Our Age - discovering new voices (Help the Aged)
  We shall pilot new ways for excluded older people to heard in local decision-making and spread solutions across England.
• Blackpool Tenants Forum
  There is a need for private tenants forum where the 11,000 plus private tenants in Blackpool can have a voice.
• D for Democr@cy ?
  What does democracy mean to you ? Showcasing and exploring different interpretations expressed through drama and multimedia.
• TCR fm
  Using community radio for interactive feedback into council meetings.
• Anne Frank Trust 'Free 2 Choose' Project - An online political debate for young people
  Free2Choose is a lively educational political debate project. We want to create an online version to reach a wider audience.
• Chartism on trial
  A debating area within Newport Museum and Art Gallery 1839 Chartist Protest displays to stimulate discussion on citizenship and democracy.
• Keyboard Activists
  A microsite to connect young people with decision makers and influential adults to debate issues of shared interest or concern.
• Cross-platform consultation and dialogue tool
  An tool for public institutions to pose questions to opted-in citizens across SMS, e-mail, web & social network sites.
• Local Voice
  Enabling socially excluded young people to work in partnership with local government to increase engagement in local democracy.
• 'Get Heard' community radio show
  Weekly community radio show to enable people to get involved in their local area and hold local decision-makers to account.
• Amplifying the voices of Gypsy and Traveller young people
  Creating a film with young people, amplifying their views relating local authority accomadtion needs assessments and their own futures
• Speak Up
  A live, topical, interactive talk radio show with cluster of schools and young people at local community radio station.
• Say it Loud!
  Disadvantaged young women from England will hold an event in Westminster directly lobbying MP's about issues that matter to them.
• Debate Live
  Debate national and local issues via webcam or mobile, view voting in real time plotted against the most influential arguments.
• The Moss Side Young People's Commission
  An enquiry into "The Meaning of Black and its significance for education,health, housing and community cohesion."
• Newfield Vegetable Garden
  To design and build our very own organic vegetable garden for pupils with EBD - Emotional and behavioural disorders
• Face to Face
  Young people ask key opinion formers/elected members questions face to face in a series of televised debates.
• Court Help Desks
  Volunteers from the local community supporting families of defendents who are unfamiliar with the legal sysyem
• Roots Up Regenerate
  Involve children and young people in real changes in their local environment and community through curriculum based work with schools.
• Future Cities
  A pioneering way of developing partnerships with key audiences that are committed to making cities better places for the future.
• The Users' Voice
  To create a forum for service users to influence public policy for the better
• Where Does My Money Go?
  A web application that would interactively represent UK government budgetary information using maps, timelines, and best of breed visualisation technologies.
• Our community, Our voice
  Build and support an active user-led campaigning network of people with sight problems allowing them to participant and influence policies.
• An Online/Vitual Advice Surgery
  Councillors can set an online surgery from their home computer so that residents can contact them.
• Student Advisors
  Appoint under 18's to attend all Council and Committee meetings
• Social Reporters Network
  To develop clusters of social reporters who will connect people and technology in their communities to improve engagement and participation
• Catch21
  A political news website based at Westminster, run by young people for young people promoted via social networking
• Political Shadowing
  The scheme will targets ethnic minority young people that have a strong interest in politics,
• Local Health Service
  Instead of state vs private provision, we need to develop local provision of public services, including health and governance.
• Youth Council Community Blog
  Establish a separate youth council. Develop website blog giving the opportunity for residents to log streetscene problems and vandalism information.
• Reducing the democratic deficit
  We want to work in partnership to build the rate of participation in local democracy by the large Somali population
• Ask People - Parliamentary engagement of people in the making of legislation
  Strengthen the public consultation practice of parliament when it scrutinizes important legislation that affects people at home and abroad
• Youth Community Support Agency
  To empower young people from ethnic minorities to become active members of Scotland's civic society and democratic processes.
• A Healthy Democracy for Scotland
  This project will stage five community events to identify issues which affect Minority Ethnic communities' engagement with mainstream health services.
• Urban Screens
  Community Groups and individuals post multimedia on local 24 hour LCD screens increasing understanding, identity, social cohesion and crime reduction.
• Learning from successful safeguarding
  Learning together with the 'whole safeguarding system' about successful safeguarding to create more of this in our families and communities.
• Groundswell
  A web tool using people's interests as a hook to get them involved in their community and inform local decision-making
• Living Community Map and fault-reporting: Council 2.0
  An engaging way to map citizen's experiences, both good and bad, in their communities, to prompt discussion, learning and improvements.
• First Time Voters
  The first time voters' project is a continuing process of developing a new generation of electorate who exercise their right.
• Youth Management Group
  Panel of young people contributing to the development of the project with management committee.
• Covenant With Black Britian:The Windrush Legacy
  Community led approach in using the website/interactive tools and workshops addressing social exclusion and inequality for Black Britains.
• Citizens Briefings: Voter engagement sessions
  Distribute vouchers with voter registration for free interactive workshops on how political process works and how to influence it
• Involving hard to reach young people in the parliamentary process
  In particular trying to involve young people who have been involved in offending to become citizens.
• Political Blog Directory
  Develop a directory of elected representative blogs across the UK from local government through to MEPs.
• Building Foundations
  To help very young children (5 year olds+) make group decisions about their school and to understand the democratic process.
• Bedminster Issues Forum (working title)
  An electronic 'public meeting' linked to a particular neighbourhood.
• Young Purbeck
  A forward thinking fully inclusive youth council encompassing young people aged 10-24 that can be easily replicated nationwide
• Women's Design Groups
  To get more women involved in decisions about our male designed environments
• Just Cities Youth Action
  The project aims to engage with young people, encouraging active participation in decision making through the development of action plans.
• Family Voice: What families really say.
  Our aim is to get real families involved in developing the policies and services that affect their lives.
• Citizen Journalists Network
  Undercurrents will train and nurture a Citizen Journalists Network for supporting local communities with local positive video news.
• Imagine Project
  The Imagine Project is based on appreciative inquiry methods by developing positive future thinking about development, democracy and community empowerment.
• Debatewise
  Create a debating web site to inform people about issues and engage them in the issues they care most about.
• 'Telling it how it is' -- your experience of the healthcare system
  An innovative method for obtaining relevant feedback from NHS patients to inform learning and change programmes in healthcare.
• Democracy:Devolved
  Healthy democracy means understanding the issues at stake, and having non-partisan space to deliberate and decide collectively what we want.
• January Daffodils
  Based on their geographic location provide people with information infrastructure that they need to become more sustainable by asking more.
• The Public Space
  This is a project to introduce the importance of public space as the forum of debate & discussion within schools.
• Visual Facilitation
  A series of practical videos on how to facilitate participative events for community groups, local government officers and active citizens.
• Doing democracy in 15 minutes
  Providing argument maps in newspapers that help people engage with complex issues and form a first opinion in fifteen minutes
• Empowering the blind citizen
  Providing the training and tools to enable the blind citizen to fully participate in their democracy.
• The Democracy Challenge
  Enabling young people to debate, discuss and learn about democracy online and gain an accreditation via the Democracy Challenge.
• Just Cities Youth Action
  The project aims to engage with young people, encouraging active participation in decision making through the development of action plans.
• Plan for power magazine
  Printed magazine, assembling debate on planning issues for local peoples furthur reflection, input using a creative process to explore issues.