Ungdomsøen is a laboratory where we experiment with co-creation and engagement. We care about creating free spaces. Our work is framed by our principles, which together with Ungdomsøen's vision and dogmas form our values.
The principles are not meant to be solved or ticked off. We hope they can inspire you and serve as a tool for reflection. The principles have been created together with young people, and they develop over time based on experience and knowledge.
Ungdomsøen's work is characterised by the fact that we…
1. Start where the energy is and involve from the beginning
It is much easier to feel ownership and engagement when you are involved from the start. We involve people early in a process – that is where ideas take shape, and it contributes to co-creation and shared ownership.
2. Meet each other with respect and as equals
Young people see the world in a way that differs from older generations and have a better understanding of what matters to a youth generation and to different groups of young people. Young people ask critical questions, point to new paths and increase the relevance of the social issues and solutions that are launched. Young people's opinions, ideas and contributions create sustainable, viable and socially relevant solutions. Equality is not about sameness, but about meeting each other with respect, recognising each other's differences and making room for them in the collaboration.
3. Make room for mistakes and the courage to experiment
Mistakes are an unavoidable part of any process when you try things out, do something different from what you usually do, and take action. We try to create spaces where there is room for mistakes by showing our own mistakes and shifting the focus away from individual performance to shared responsibility. We focus on making it clear where and when there is (more) room for mistakes, and how we deal with mistakes together when they happen. This strengthens the courage to take part and to dare to try again and again.
4. Build on real influence
Participation in democracy must be experienced through real influence rather than through training in "as if" democratic processes. You cannot take part, get involved and take responsibility for the common good "in theory". You need to gain your own experiences and have real room for action, power and influence over things that matter. It is by continuously practising participation that you gain the courage and ability to shape the community.
5. Push the forms of engagement
Some people engage by standing on the soapbox and speaking, while others engage by helping to build the box that others stand on. Engagement is about taking a stand, broadening your perspective and taking part in something bigger than yourself – and it can look and be done in many different ways. Understand engagement more broadly and open more paths to taking part in a community, so that more people want to and are able to join in.
6. Unfold between freedom and fixed frameworks
Your own opinions and the freedom of self-determination should carry great weight, but engagement rarely develops in a vacuum where everything is free. Instead, it arises when someone dares to help set a direction, create transparent frameworks for what is possible, and show how it can take shape. It is often in the space between ultimate freedom and fixed frameworks that the desire and ability to take responsibility and shape the community emerge.
7. Connect the small community with the world around it
The small community can be a greenhouse where new ways of being together are tested, engagement is created and new ideas are allowed to grow. But at the same time it is important to keep the door open and interact with the world outside. It is often in meeting people who see things differently from yourself that you gain new perspectives and find shared paths to action.