Video course on Reflexive Policy Making

The purpose of this video course is to introduce Reflexive Policy Making, which is the approach to policy co-creation that we used in the UPLIFT project. This approach has three main tenets:

1. Policies are made with the target group (based on a deep understanding of their needs and strategies) and not for the target group. This means that young people are actively involved in the creation, development, implementation and evaluation of new policies and tools.
2. The voice of young people is expressed by so-called Youth Boards. These Youth Boards are inclusive and representative groups of young people that are structurally involved in the co-creation process. Together with the institutional stakeholders, the Youth Board co-creates and agrees on a shared Reflexive Policy Agenda. The Reflexive Policy Agenda contains a set of proposed policy interventions that fall under the competences of the stakeholders involved, and that aims to address the issues that the young people are struggling with.
3. The policy makers and service providers that participate in the co-creation process need to be committed to take the voice and input of the target group seriously. Ultimately, this should result in the creation of new and durable collaborative structures.

In this process of Reflexive Policy Making, different phases can be discerned:

1. Problem identification and definition;
2. Institutional preparation;
3. Involvement of young adults / recruitment of a Youth Board;
4. Carrying out the actual co-creation process;
5. From co-creation outcomes to policy implementation: impact and follow up of the co-creation process.

The videos address all the phases, providing both methodological and practical recommendations for those who want to initiate a policy co-creation process. The final aim of this video course is to provide useful tools for researchers and organizations to engage in Reflexive Policy Making.

If you want to know more about why Reflexive Policy making is necessary you can read our Policy Brief on Participatory Policy Making.