Youth digital participation: Measuring social impact

Year of production: 2020

Image is illustrative. Photo by Canva Studio from Pexels

This article examines current scholarly debates around digital participatory youth projects and approaches to their evaluation.

The analysis of the literature presented in the paper reveals (1) an over-reliance on traditional evaluation techniques for such initiatives, and (2) a scarcity of models for the assessment of the social impact of digital participatory youth projects.

It is concluded that the challenges and limitations of social impact evaluation practice in digital participatory youth projects should be addressed through the adoption of alternative, participant-centred approaches.

Autorid

Photo of Dr Alicja Pawluczuk
Dr Alicja Pawluczuk

Dr Alicja Pawluczuk is an ICTD Research Fellow at the United Nations University, and a Strategic Consultant on defining Digital Transformation at SALTO PI. Alicja’s research and community education practice focuses on digital youth work, youth digital inclusion, and gender digital inclusion.

Hazel Hall

Gemma Webster

Colin Smith