Campaign launch: We, the people!

Launching today and much awaited is Edgeryders’ third campaign: We, the people!! In project sequencing terms, this means we will spend the following three weeks looking closely at what young Europeans are doing to reinvent democracy: from increasingly unpopular participation channels such as voting to straightforward means to affect change - street protests and the recent Occupy or The Indignados movements. An important game changer lies in the power of technology, which has changed the way we connect to one another to build networks and seems to bring individuals closer to the political realm.

We put forward the following four missions and suggest to go for whichever resonates better with your personal experience:

  1. Reactivating democratic institutions: Are you passionate about politics? Are you active in a political party or organization?
  2. Taking to the streets: Do you think  the Arab Spring, Indignant, Occupy or other such movements  are being successful in advancing the causes they promote?
  3. Hacking for change: Investigate and report about a hacktivist project. What problem is it trying to solve? Do you think it is making a contribution?
  4. Spotlight: open government: how to make governance smarter with Internet-enabled citizen collaboration.

You can find out more about this campaign and post your input directly on Edgeryders platform by going here. If you’re new to the game get more info and be converted into an Edgeryder :slight_smile: here.

Lastly, our community takes pride in the much needed support of participants coming from France, Spain, Croatia, Canada, the United States, Ireland, Russia, Italy, UK and Senegal. They all have shown an interest in participatory democracy, open government, open data and various other forms of civic activism. The open government crowd in particular has helped us design a mission and will be actively involved in discussions throughout this campaign. Thank you everybody and let’s rock’n’roll!