Poland's first youth citizens’ assembly: Designing a Safer Digital Future
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By Ryan Gem
What happens when youth voices are left out of the policy conversations that directly affect their lives? Without a seat at the table, young people may start to feel like democracy isn’t for them. In Poland, as in many countries, youth have historically been excluded from the policymaking process. It is perhaps no coincidence, then, that a recent YouGov survey revealed that less than half of young people (ages 16-26) in Poland view democracy as the best form of government. If youth were allowed to engage meaningfully in the policy process and have agency over the decisions that affect their lives, it might not only produce better policies but also reinvigorate young people’s support for and investment in their democracy.
To bring youth voices into the policy consultation process, the Field of Dialogue Foundation (Fundacja Pole Dialogu), with support from People Powered’s Digital Democracy Accelerator (DDA), launched a bold initiative earlier this year, the first national-level Youth Citizens’ Assembly in Poland’s history.
The initiative was a DDA best award recipient, providing them $115,000 in seed funding, and helped facilitate the introduction of citizens’ assembly in Poland, which is a relatively new and unknown process in the country
The Assembly brought together 32 randomly selected youth from every major region of Poland to discuss, deliberate, and make recommendations on digital policies. As Eva Mackeviča, who manages participatory and deliberative processes at the Field of Dialogue Foundation and was instrumental in designing and implementing the Assembly, explained, “we realized that if we’re regulating young people’s presence online, they should have a say in it.”
The goal of this initiative was not just to hear what young people had to say, but to actually give them power to shape their future in digital spaces. Toward this end, Eva and her team approached the Ministry of Digital Affairs. The Ministry had already been exploring deliberative tools and was impressed that funding for the process had already been provided by People Powered. As Eva notes, “this was the first assembly in Poland that actually got ministerial backing' in advance, 'so this is a huge success.”
Youth decide on digital policies that affect their lives
The Assembly focused on digital policies aimed at protecting youth. The teen participants addressed questions like: What online content do young people find harmful? What role should government, schools, and families play in creating safer digital spaces? And what kinds of regulations do youth believe are necessary in digital spaces to protect their well-being and mental health? Ultimately, they would make a series of policy recommendations, which the Ministry of Digital Affairs agreed in advance to review, respond to, and, hopefully, integrate into their policies.
With ministerial backing secured, Eva and her team had the monumental task of designing, recruiting, and running the Youth Citizens’ Assembly. Inspired by similar efforts in Ireland and Switzerland, Eva’s team built a process tailored to Poland’s context. To obtain a representative sample of students, the team considered random selection of participants to be crucial. Recognizing that when recruiting from schools, teachers may tend to select their favorite students, they employed a two-step approach to randomization. First, they randomly selected schools across the country, and then they randomly selected students within those schools. The result was a diverse group of 32 participants, aged 14 to 19, representing every region of Poland.
The process itself empowered the youth: “almost everyone spoke up”
The Assembly was thoughtfully designed to foster learning, dialogue, and reflection. UNICEF Poland, which had joined the project as a co-organizer, lent its expertise on youth participation processes, and the Field of Dialogue Foundation team carefully designed each day of the Assembly to follow a similar structure. This regular schedule gave a sense of predictability and familiarity. Facilitators helped the participants establish ground rules and set a tone of genuine curiosity, creating a safe and supportive environment for constructive dialogue. At first, the teens were hesitant. “They were very used to the class setting,” Eva recalled. “Just sitting and waiting to be called on.” But with the thoughtful design and facilitation, over time, something shifted.
The transformation was profound. What began as a quiet room of uncertain teenagers became a vibrant space of empowered voices. “In the last day, almost everyone spoke up,” Eva said. “They all had their thoughts, and they all wanted to share something.” Although the organizers had worried about bullying or some students being excluded, Eva was amazed to see how supportive and inclusive the teens were of one another. By the end of the Assembly, “the group was really integrated…throughout the process they opened up to each other and it was really nice to observe,” recalls Eva, “they actually really took care of each other.” The closing circle, where participants reflected on their experience and exchanged heartfelt goodbyes, was a moment of deep pride for Eva. “Even if the ministry would not address the recommendations as we expect, these moments of individual empowerment we could observe in the participants give me a lot of hope and motivation.”
A collaborative government was crucial to its success
The recommendations from the Youth Citizens Assembly were formally submitted to the Minister of Digital Affairs himself in May. The Ministry has committed to reviewing and then publicly responding to the recommendations in the coming months with details about how they plan to integrate the Assembly’s recommendations into their policies. “The Ministry was already implementing some of the actions proposed by assembly members,” Eva said, “the Ministry recognized that this was proof that the programs weren't successfully engaging their target audiences, highlighting areas where outreach and implementation needed improvement.”
Their decision would have a major impact on the safety, well-being, and mental health of Polish youth. But as the youth participants await the Ministry's final response, Eva is optimistic that the Ministry will incorporate many of the Assembly’s recommendations into new legislation. There are good reasons for this optimism. Representatives from several departments of the Ministry of Digital Affairs were active throughout the Assembly process. “The departments were really engaged,” remembers Eva, “they were present during meetings. They saw how the recommendations came to life. So I’m really optimistic that they took it seriously.”
While the final impact of the Assembly on national policy remains to be seen, the process has already generated momentum for more deliberative processes and greater youth engagement. Eva’s team created a manual outlining their approach and learnings from the Citizens’ Assembly, which they are sharing with practitioners throughout Europe to help others implement assemblies. The success of this project also inspired the Field of Dialogue Foundation to initiate other youth engagement processes. They are currently exploring ways to bring deliberative processes into schools and cultivate other opportunities to engage young people in decision-making processes.
“We saw firsthand that youth are absolutely able to deliberate and make great decisions if they have the tools and the opportunity to make their voices heard,” Eva said passionately. Poland’s Youth Citizens Assembly is a testament that democracy doesn’t just belong to adults. Notably, after the process ended, twice as many of the participants believed that democracy is the best form of government compared to before. When young people are invited to shape the policies that affect them, they rise to the occasion.
Take action
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