Why Youth Participation Needs New Approaches – and Why Games Work

Young people influence and participate in many different contexts, such as municipal and regional youth councils, as well as participatory budgeting processes where decisions are made about the use of public funds. They are active in student councils, contributing to the development of everyday school life and institutional practices. Young people take part in legislative processes and public consultations that affect for example their education, mobility, and digital lives. They meet decision-makers in seminars, hearings, and various public events. They also have ideas of their own that they want to move forward within their communities or on a broader level. 

Participation does not happen automatically

In all of these situations, practical solutions are needed to ensure that young people’s ideas and perspectives become visible and are connected to real decision-making. Without appropriate tools and methods, even the best ideas can disappear into systems or reports. 

This is where game-based approaches to youth participation can offer a solution

Participatory budgeting can be designed as a simulation where the consequences of choices become immediately visible. A youth council meeting could include role-playing elements, allowing participants to examine decisions from multiple perspectives before reaching conclusions. Student council work can be supported with shared challenge cards or structured tasks that ensure every voice is heard. Legislative processes can be explored through story-based simulations where young people test how different policy decisions affect everyday life. Encounters between young people and decision-makers can incorporate adventure-based or team games that level hierarchies and support genuine dialogue. 

This is not about making participation childish. It is about making complex issues understandable and motivating. Abstract processes become tangible experiences, and passive observation turns into active engagement. 

At the Youth Participation Design Hackathon, we are looking for game-based solutions that help young people make their voices heard more effectively and make participation more functional and engaging. The solutions developed by young participants can relate to any situation where young people’s voices need to be heard. You can read more behind this link.