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Robot Advocates invade Parliment

Sep 21, 2009 by     2 Comments    Posted under: Span That World

- This is a strange one so be warned in advance.

Its from the good people at V who usually spent most of their time making funding oppertunities accessible to young people with big ideas. This time they are running a project called Voicebox – its to try and break through the stereotypes and barriers between decision makers and young people. Find out what young people really care about and then get this view through to MPs .

and how do these progressive bright sparks decide the best way top express young people’s voices is? Yes that’s right – a huge robot that sits in The House of Commons and writes message submitted by “us” through an online flash application – obviously

i’m serious here! check it out yourself – maybe even tell the robot what you care about, maybe if enough people write: “ludicrous gimicks that suck money away from genuinly productive projects” they might get the message – perhaps i’m being harsh. Is the MTV generation so in accessible that we need robots to break through? Is this another slip along the slope to “Judgement Day” ?

have you say (through the medium of a robot) HERE

  • Philip

    Wow.

  • Charlotte

    I don’t think its so much a question of the ‘MTV generation’ being inaccessible but the government. The robot will demand attention in the Houses of Parliament.

    But more generally, how many people can be bothered to complain about something that’s going on in the country or your local area by writing a letter to your MP? Would people be more likely to register their views if it was as easy as updating your Facebook status?

    Would this make a better democracy?

    Isn’t this installation just challenging the current methods of engaging public with politics? Encouraging innovation in striving for a true democracy?

    v are undoubtably one of the largest providers of volunteering opportunities for young people in England and as such they have a responsibility to help represent the views of young people in Parliament. The purpose of this project is also to inform the development of v’s volunteering programmes, to reach more young people, and to inform the rest of the volunteering sector of what issues are likely to move young people to get involved. So not a waste of money IMHO anyway.

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