Instituto Seva – Cidade Democrática

Planos Participativos de Bairros Educadores no Munícipo de Sorocaba

Civic engagement through digital technology

The city of Sorocaba is a member of the International Association of Educating Cities (Associação Internacional das Cidades Educadoras), which encourages residents to learn “in” and “with” the city, by transforming public areas into educational spaces. With approximately 1,000 high school students enrolled in high school education in the area, the school district believes that empowering youth to participate in local government can encourage them engage in the public sphere and increase their influence over public policy.

The organization aims to create new ways for youth to become involved in social causes, using digital technology as a horizontal structure and a means to advocate their agenda.

With support from BrazilFoundation, the project will:

• Develop strategies for high schools in Sorocaba to involve students in social causes;
• Encourage students and the community to mobilize;
• Train students to be agents of change who influence local public policy;
• Track the networks and causes created from these efforts;
• Conduct online workshops to train students and document their experiences;
• Use the internet to mobilize and create solutions;
• Hold competitions to generate proposals and collaboration.

“Our work came from the belief that the government cannot be aware or have knowledge of all issues faced by the everyday man.” – Rodrigo Bandeira, project manager