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Original article here.
Young people seeking essential services — whether mental health support, education, or government benefits — often face a critical challenge: they are asked to share their data without having a say in how it is used or for what purpose. While the responsible use of data can help tailor services to better meet their needs and ensure that vulnerable populations are not overlooked, a lack of trust in data collection and usage can have the opposite effect.
When young people feel uncertain or uneasy about how their data is being handled, they may adopt privacy-protective behaviors — choosing not to seek services at all or withholding critical information out of fear of misuse. This risks deepening existing inequalities rather than addressing them.
To build trust, those designing and delivering services must engage young people meaningfully in shaping data practices. Understanding their concerns, expectations, and values is key to aligning data use with their preferences. But how can this be done effectively?
This question was at the heart of a year-long global collaboration through the NextGenData project, which brought together partners worldwide to explore solutions. Today, we are a key deliverable of that project: The Youth Engagement Toolkit for Responsible Data Reuse:
Based on a methodology developed and piloted during the NextGenData project, the Toolkit describes an innovative methodology for engaging young people on responsible data reuse practices, to improve services that matter to them.
It is designed to:
- Provide a step-by-step guide: how to implement an innovative youth engagement methodology for responsible data reuse in improving services.
- Engage young people in decision-making: amplifying their voice, agency and preferences in how their data is used.
- Foster collaboration: bringing youth, service providers, and policymakers together to co-design solutions.
The Toolkit has been designed to help young people, service providers, civil society organisations and policymakers to design and implement effective and responsible data reuse frameworks for better data-driven services. Each phase of the toolkit is guided by a framework for responsible data reuse.
What’s Inside? A step-by-step guide:
The Toolkit is structured around five key phases:
- Scope & Explore:
The first phase involves laying the groundwork for the engagement by building partnerships, defining priorities, and mapping current data practices.
- Operationalise & Plan:
The second phase includes planning the recruitment, engagement & participation of young people in an ethical and responsible way.
- Deliberate & Prioritise:
In this phase, the youth engagement commences as young people are introduced to data reuse concepts, case scenarios, and deliberate in small groups to identify and prioritise issues.
- Engage & Design:
Young people continue with their engagement by co-designing recommendations for responsible data reuse for effective service provision, with the support of mentors.
- Showcase & Collaborate:
In the final phase, youth are empowered to present their recommendations to local decision-makers, creating awareness and co-creating action plans.
The Toolkit builds on established principles of deliberative democracy and co-design — incorporating a learning phase, structured deliberation, collaborative ideation, and, crucially, direct engagement with decision-makers to ensure recommendations have real impact. By adapting this methodology to different contexts, we have demonstrated the value of involving young people in policy design. This approach provides organisations and decision-makers with a meaningful way to secure a social ‘license’ — the collective acceptance of responsible data reuse practices.|
About NextGenData Project
This youth engagement methodology was developed as part of the NextGenData project, a collaboration initiated by the Data Tank with local civil society organizations across four countries: Dasra (India), SOS Children’s Villages (Kyrgyzstan), the National Youth Council of Moldova, and Tanzania Data Lab. With support of dedicated mentors in each location, young participants worked through the structured phases outlined in the toolkit, generating creative solutions and recommendations for responsible data reuse.
Piloting this approach in diverse cultural and policy contexts provided valuable insights into how local sensitivities influence engagement and decision-making processes. Feedback from participants helped refine the methodology, ensuring that the toolkit is both adaptable and impactful. The effort was made available with support from the Botnar Stiftung.
