The training program will focus on equipping participants with skills and knowledge in the following areas: active citizenry and public participation, digital literacy, data literacy, and advanced digital literacy. The program aims to empower participants to engage in civic participation and become active citizens while enhancing their digital and data literacy. Through this training, participants will gain practical skills and theoretical knowledge that will enable them to use technology and data to inform their decision-making processes and engage with their communities.
In collaboration with Cape Agulhas Municipality, OpenUp hosted a one day Data and Digital Literacy workshop in Bredasdorp, at the Anene Booysen skills centre. A total of 20 youth attended this workshop on 9 April 2022. The workshop was facilitated by Adrian Kearns (Project Manager at OpenUp), Damian Pool (Project Coordinator at OpenUp) and Katlego Mohlabane (Community Development Lead). The three set out to implement the day's programme using mobile devices. Participants were briefed before the day of the workshop of the specifications required of their cellphone to ensure their ability to access the platforms to be used for workshop.
Key Outcomes
Youth participants were made aware of the following open data tools available to them. Firstly, Wazimap, where youth were shown specific demographic data about their municipality and their ward. Participants were interested in specifics like what the average household income was in their area, what basic services were provided, and were lacking in terms of data. A participant mentioned the recent xenophobia attacks which took place in ward 3, and based on the data, it showed that less than 1% of the population in the municipality were foreign nationals. What was clear is that, there was a high level of unskilled people in the municipality, with limited unskilled job opportunities. Meaning, means a big pool fighting for a very small number of low skilled jobs.
Another tool shown to the participants was, Youth Explorer. While Wazimap focused on overall demographic data, youth explorer allows a user to zoom into a particular youth age group, within a particular region. Lastly, from a Municipal finance angle, the OpenUp team showed the youth Municipal Money, to gauge their interest in terms of local government.
A practical exercise took place where youth were divided into groups of 4-5 and had to locate various pieces of data from the above tools.
The election and establishment of the Cape Agulhas Youth Council for the next 2 years
