Output 1.2: At least 1000 ‘Shadow Participants’ to Co-Laboratories recruited

Before attending a Co-Laboratory, each participant is asked to identify and recruit additional 10 ‘shadow participants’. This will significantly enlarge the total number of participants and increase the validation of the results during each Co-Laboratory. Since participants themselves will represent a diverse mix of ethnic and social backgrounds, so will the additional participants, as they are likely to be identified within the socio-economic environment of each participant. Participants will however be asked to try and identify representatives of different youth organizations or active youth/ civil society groups. By recruiting 10 shadow participants each, the total number of young people involved per Co-Laboratory will reach 200. The shadow participants will contribute through virtual means, through the website, the IdeaPrism™ or email, depending on the particular circumstances. In addition, however, the virtual participants will also be in charge to reflect on the proceedings and also “broadcast” the progress of the project using their respective channels, i.e., via email, Twitter™, Facebook™, Blogs, YouTube™ movies, etc.

Concrete results expected / Monitoring: Including additional 200 young people into each Co-Laboratory through virtual means and ensuring that they are well connected to the actual participants that participate physically, the dissemination and outreach after the Co-Laboratories will be strengthened significantly. The participation of these 200 virtual participants per Co-Laboratory will be monitored through their interaction with the ideas and participants virtually (emails, website, IdeaPrism™, Facebook™ groups etc.), and through regular communication with the young people themselves, especially in the follow-up and dissemination phase. Having ten ‘shadow participants’ support each participant will add confidence to her/his role after returning from the Co-Laboratory and will provide a support platform to reach out further within the community, to local decision-makers as well as to policy-makers.

Follow-up Actions: The virtual participants will be involved in the follow-up and dissemination of the outcomes of each Co-Laboratory and will help form a strong voice within their community promoting action ideas and solutions on how to increase democratic participation of young people.