Spark - RSA Shortlisted

Spark - A new democracy

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Problem
A common issue in democratic engagement is the lack of engagement by the public, often manifested as low turnouts during important public decision making. More than any other, local government suffers from this issue. Citizens often stay uninformed about their local councils, and rarely participate in decision making.

Approach
I began my journey by diving deep into the democratic structures that govern the UK. I wanted to understand how decisions are being made, and how citizens can have their say. In this journey I rarely came across examples of how local decision-making works and how citizens can participate. Branches like borough councils often aren’t given much attention, despite it being relatively easy and effective to get involved in local government.

Solution
By providing citizens with a locally focused platform dedicated to making government engagement simple, easy and effective, [app-name] encourages citizens to get involved. Participating in local government is a great way of learning about democratic processes and creating a more informed and engaged population who help shape this nation.

Spark was a project selected for the shortlist of the RSA Student Design Awards 2019.