Rise your hand is a methodology for citizen participation for children and adolescents between 10 and 17 years old that promotoes active inclusion through dialogue and cooperation.

The main aim of the project is to growth in children and adolescents the positive worth  and internalisation of the citizen exercise of participation through experiences of collective deliberation, cooperation and influence.

The specific aims are:

• Contribute to the discovery and valorization of participation in children and adolescents.
• Provide tools and spaces that ensure the experimentation of collaboration and deliberation.
• Promote the development of skills such as critical thinking, dialogue and collaborative work in children and adolescents.
• Contribute to the appreciation of the participation of children and adolescents in teaching teams, school communities and fathers and mothers.

The project started with a pilot of three months in 2017 in an electoral context in Chile. The methodology, moderated by a teacher or a professor, proposed a citizen meeting where children and adolescents dialogue about issues that affect them and propose solutions for these problems. These proposals were uploaded to a web platform, in which they could be made visible by the citizens and by the candidatures. Thus, they obtained support from more than 4500 citizens and the commitment of various candidates to include these proposals in their electoral programs. Once the elections were over, more than 40 meetings were held throughout the country, we obtained more than 200 proposals and 19 elected candidates (including the president-elect) committed to at least one proposal.

We believe that there are currently four needs for citizens that must be met:

• Safe spaces, daily and accessible for decision making in formative stage.
• Positive and vindictive experiences of the meaning of politics as a space for change and the common good.
• That girls and adolescents are attracted to the exercise of citizenship.
• An education that promotes the common good based on experiences of dialogue, critical thinking and collaborative work.

Their participation in decision making since they are young is essential to a citizenship that helps to strengthen democracy. We want a citizenship with experience, competences, and confidence to get involved in politics and that feels attracted to safe common good through collaboration.

To transform the pilot project into a viable platform it is necessary to invest additional time and enrich its components with experts from different disciplines. Being a platform of collective intelligence aimed to children and adolescents. There are some aspects of their design that need more specialized expertise, so that they can  correspond to the needs and dynamics of the age group to which they are addressed. Until today, in the space of collaboration and civic technology there are no platforms directed and designed for this group. Simply versions of the platforms for adults are created, without considering aspects of usability, privacy, methodologies and dynamics that place the needs of children at the center.

Desirable collaborators profiles:

We look for collaborator with experience in children and adolescent participation. With competences in participatory methodologies, learning and work with this sector of population. People that wants to create new participatory spaces, safe and attractive to NNA. There are specially interesting for the project following profiles:

• Methodologist expert in child and youth participation.
• Expert Methodologist in participatory dynamics.
• Pedagogue expert in learning methodologies and classroom experience.
• UX and UI expert with experience in interactive platforms attractive to children and young people.
• Expert in privacy and handling of sensitive personal data.