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1. Information providers / counselling structures

2. Youth-targeted information campaigns about democratic rights and democratic values

3. Promoting the intercultural dialogue among young people

4. Promoting transparent and youth-tailored public communication

Information providers / counselling structures

For many years, it’s been seen as a given that the young Poles are disinterested with politics. Recent research shows, however, that this is changing. “CBOS analyses show that from 2018 we can observe growing interest in politics among young Polish people (aged 18 to 24), with the highest increase being recorded in 2020 due to the pandemic and the anti-abortion legislation”. At the start of 2023, nearly half of young Poles (44%) declared medium interest in politics, while 21% described themselves as highly interested. In this context, the fact that 78% of young Poles declared desire to vote in the elections should not surprise – and those intentions largely panned out in the autumn of 2023.

Media information on participation in social and political life is formatted for middle aged recipients. The Internet is an exception to the rule. It is there that attempts of alternative forms of communication relating to politics and participation are made. On one hand, research seems to confirm this: “youth finds information on politics mainly in social media (29.3%) – especially Facebook and Twitter – followed by internet news sites (27.7%) and family and friends (19.4%). TV was indicated by 10.6%, radio by 5%, and press by 1.8%”. On the other hand, in the months following the elections, a social phenomenon called Sejmflix emerged. After the election, young voters started to use social media to follow broadcasts from the parliament sessions, and the Speaker of the Parliament became a political showman due to this style of leading sessions. The YouTube channel of the Polish Parliament gained approximately 600 000 subscriptions in a month, and is now approaching 750 000.

Youth-targeted information campaigns about democratic rights and democratic values

Awareness campaigns are one of the most common forms of citizenship education in Europe Most citizenship education programmes contain information modules. The school is the main place where that kind of information is provided, which is why these campaigns take advantage of such tools as posters, leaflets, face-to-face meetings, and frequently use multimedia. Campaigns promoting participation in elections (to ensure high turnout) are the most common form of information campaigns. Some of them are targeted mostly at young people with voting rights. 

The campaign “Change the country, vote in elections” (Zmień kraj idź na wybory) is an example of activities enjoying nationwide success and targeting mainly young people. The campaign involved over 100 non-governmental organisations. TV/radio spots and announcements in the press were provided free of charge by the almost all of the mainstream media networks, resulting in wide coverage. The campaign was recognisable by over 94% Poles and 14% of the youngest voters (18-19 years of age) said that the campaign “Change your country...” had had a decisive influence on their participation in elections (another 36% said the campaign had encouraged them to vote). This example from years ago was an inspiration for many turnout campaigns of 2023. They were chiefly targeted towards young women. The campaigns were hugely successful. Turnout at the latest Polish elections was record-high, including among people aged 18 to 29. Example campaigns included the TV ad by the Wschód initiative, “No longer quiet”, “Your choice” – a campaign organized by the Batory Foundation alongside the Women’s Voice initiative, “I’ll Change It” by The International Institute of Civil Society’s, or another campaign called “Your choice” by the Anja Rubik SexEd.pl Foundation.

Promoting the intercultural dialogue among young people

Polish youth’s attitude towards people of different religion and culture, especially of those coming from Muslim countries, is rather reluctant. Such attitudes stem from stereotypes present in media coverage and public debates rather than from personal experience. Therefore, the Ombudsman suggests that more emphasis should be put on activities promoting inter-cultural dialogue and tolerance.. The promotion of inter-cultural dialogue and tolerance is one of the main themes of most international youth exchanges implemented in Poland as part of EU projects. In total, tens of thousands of Polish young people have participated in the programmes Erasmus+.

Promoting transparent and youth-tailored public communication

Not applicable.