The launch of the At the Table toolkit at City Hall was a vibrant and energising gathering, bringing together young people and practitioners from across the youth participation and democratic education sector in London. The day was designed to showcase the toolkit, and to model the kind of inclusive, engaging, and participatory spirit it promotes.
The Agenda for the Day:
A welcome from Dr Elisabeth Pop – Head of Community Engagement and Participation, reflecting on seven years of London Voter Registration Week and the evolution of the GLA civic and democratic participation programme.
An expert panel, focussed on youth participation and democratic education – what works well and how to overcome barriers experienced. Followed by a Q&A which was thought provoking and aligned with the current experience in London.
An introduction to The Politics Project from Director, Hattie Andrews with live demonstrations of toolkit games by Pip Sayers and Fatema Delair, sparking laughter, insight, and collaboration.
Practitioner insights on how the toolkit supports trust-building and participation.
Reflections on previous campaigns and an engaging workshop activity delivered by Emily Spence, Principal Policy Officer – Democratic Participation team.
Networking and collaboration opportunities among attendees.
An introduction to the At the Table toolkit
At The Table contains activities designed to spark conversations about politics and democracy in informal youth settings, with young people who may feel disconnected or disengaged from how they can use their voice to be heard on issues that matter to them. Through the activities, young people are encouraged to:
Connect their lived experiences to politics and democratic processes
Recognise their power and agency
Build trust with elected representatives and democratic institutions
The toolkit includes nine short, engaging games that make exploring politics and democracy through discussion fun, accessible, and meaningful. It also includes facilitation advice, icebreakers and adaptations of activities to make them accessible for different audiences. Youth practitioners are guided to support young people explore their right to participate and build confidence in expressing their views.
We’re thrilled to see At the Table publicly available and can’t wait to see how it’s used to inspire the next generation of changemakers. You can download and explore the full toolkit, also available on the GLA Democracy Hub and the Democracy Classroom.
Taster activities
During the event attendees had the chance to sample two taster activities from the toolkit.
Walk this Way: Walking around the room, participants explored how they might feel in different familiar or unfamiliar settings, by walking or posing as if they were in those situations. A Picture For is an alternative version of this game that does not require movement around the space and instead asks participants to pose for figures to explore their feelings towards people with power. This activity connects to the aim of building trust between young people, elected politicians and democratic institutions by creating opportunity to discuss stereotypes and assumptions that form our opinions.
Moments of Change: During this activity participants identified a time where they have made a difference or stood up for something they believe in. Participants explored this in pairs by interviewing each other as if they were on a talk show, and considering how many people their actions may have positively impacted. This activity aims to support young people to identify times when they have used their own power and agency.
The energy in the room was a testament to the toolkit’s potential: to spark curiosity, build confidence, and help young people engage with their civic and democratic rights.
GLA Civic and Democratic Participation Programme
This event is part of a wider programme of work funded by the GLA to promote democratic engagement. Discover more grant-funded projects.
To find out more about the event, and our work on civic and democratic participation in London you can contact the GLA democratic participation team [email protected].
