10 Steps Project : Empowering youth to create change through Strategic Thinking

Jul 29

Jul 29 10 Steps Project : Empowering youth to create change through Strategic Thinking

PREMIS

Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee is an inter-ministerial agency established in 2005 to serve as a communication hub between the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the Lebanese Government. LPDC has the power to provide policy recommendations to the Government of Lebanon. The goal of this project is to devise a strategy towards enhancing─ together─ the prospects of young Palestinians in Lebanon.

A6_3 copy.jpg — CHALLENGE

An analytical reading of the current conditions of Palestinian youth in Lebanon and the available resources and stakeholders involved shows that there are many opportunities, as well as profound challenges to push forward the endorsement and implementation of a strategic vision. Challenges such as mistrust, broken communication channels, antiquated existing strategies, political divisions at all levels within the Palestinian community, and the lack of economic security.

SOLUTION

LPDC’s work has seen a shift in focus in terms of addressing real complexities and challenges through rigorously immersive and ground-based work. Our team facilitated multi-phased workshops to mine experiences and questions, identify key needs, and ultimately inspire youth-generated solutions. The goal of the process is to connect youth to change agents and drive issue awareness among potential funders via reports, photos, and short documentaries`. The innovation process is designed to empower Palestinian youth to drive future change.

INSIGHT

What is the right question we should be asking about the conditions and prospects of Palestinian youth in Lebanon today? This initial question kick-started LPDC’s project with youth. LPDC set off to directly engage the youths, the heart of this strategy and its agents for fulfilment. Seeking questions, a whole process of deep listening and creating spaces for meaningful conversations emerged.

RESEARCH + DELIVERABLES

In the context of this strategy, the term participatory refers to a progressive process that aims to reach the highest levels possible with the widest range possible of stakeholders within a framework that is operational, process-oriented and open-ended, built on collective cultivation, adaptive growth, and closely grounded. LPDC is engaging youths from roughly 16 to 35 years of age. This wide range was selected due to its recognized marginalization as well as for its latent potential and capacities.

INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS

LPDC has developed its strategic vision following a phase of intensively interactive ground youth outreach, conversation-based research, and detailed stakeholder mapping. The focus of the preparatory phase was to encourage the youth to share their own insights starting from searching for the right questions that should be asked about Palestinian youth conditions and prospects in Lebanon.

GROUP DIALOGUE

LPDC hosted a series of informal, interactive, and open conversation sessions in six regions across Lebanon and then brought together previous and new participants from the entire country for a joint discussion at the Grand Serail. The session generated more than 170 questions around 40 general topics that fall under the following 8 broad and interconnected themes.

GAMIFICATION OF RESEARCH

Many tools were used to engage the youth, one of these tools includes writing a collective story through a board game called the “flow game”. The flow game is based on two questions; what is missing today for you that is stopping you from affecting change? And what capabilities do you have today that enables you to affect change? The answer will dictate the flow of the game.

STRATEGIC THINKING WORKSHOPS

It was crucial for the team to introduce strategic thinking and not just assume that such a method of thinking is the norm. The workshops were designed to inspire youth to think strategically about their own potential and challenges at a deep level of individual and collective reflection, which also pushes them to get out of the vicious circle of echoing hopelessness and self-victimization; then start linking complex ideas and feel empowered to think of innovative small steps and large, daring ideas on how to kick-off real change.

POWER OF A STORY

The value of storytelling is clearly the process itself; the output collection of stories is also crucial as it keeps a record of the process and can be weaved into collective stories; that is why the intention is to start from within localities and then open spaces for co-creative exchange across camps and regions. The sessions have informal settings, are hosted within a specific framework, and enjoy a set of tools to guide the conversations. An array of tools is available to host the sessions: micro stories are short narrations about a personal experience or that of another person; collective mapping exercises tell the stories of special places that have gained symbolic or physical importance in the eyes of the community; and visual stories combine photos and words to evoke meanings and values.

10 STEPS PROJECT

LPDC also hosted interactive sessions around the theme of youth-led change and strategy building that included video recording of participants presenting their ideas in their own voices. All the sessions were hosted in a safe, comfortable, judgment-and-assumption-free, and thought-provoking space that enables deep discussions to happen. LPDC then connected and analyzed the harvest of these sessions within the socio-political contexts and accordingly the analysis and strategic directions presented in this strategy emerged. The documentary will connect youth directly to change agents in their voice, dreams, fears, and projects.