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The vote decides

Give young people the opportunity to influence the organization by voting.
Time

15–60 min or ongoing

Difficulty

Easy

Equipment

Voting platform (e.g., large cardboard box, pieces of paper, or digital tools such as Forms, Mentimeter, or Padlet)

Participants

Enough people in relation to the activity and ideas

How?

How to do it

Tip: If you want to get more nuanced votes, give the young people several points that they can divide between different ideas. Example: 3 points for the favorite idea, 2 for second place, and 1 for third place.

  1. Select a few ideas related to exercise or activities, for example from the Wish Well, Idea Window, or conversations with young people.

  2. Decide whether voting will be manual or digital.

    • Manually: Put the ideas in a visible place and let the young people vote with, for example, stickers, tally marks, or voting slips.
    • Digitally: Create a vote in, for example, Forms or Padlet and share the link or QR code on the wall or in chat channels.

  3. Communicate clearly what the vote is about and provide written instructions. Also explain how the results will be used.

  4. Count the votes and announce the results to the young people.

  5. Implement the winning ideas or the most popular suggestions as far as possible, and clearly show that the young people’s votes have an impact on everyday life.

Why?

Being able to vote strengthens the feeling of being heard and involved in joint decisions. When young people are allowed to influence the direction of activities, it becomes easier for them to get involved. Anonymous voting makes it easy to express one’s opinion. It also trains the ability to think and express one’s own opinion.