Valentina Baú 2019
Italy/Australia, Ph.D, Communication for Development in Peacebuilding, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Current: Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, Australia
Understanding the link between Media, Civic Engagement and Peace with Palestinian Youth
Executive Summary
Participation in political and public policy-making process among Palestinian youth is limited. In 2015 Search for Common Ground, an international non-governmental organisation that works specifically in the area of Media and Communication for Peacebuilding, launched The President, a Palestinian reality TV show based around a mock presidential election, which provided the youth with a platform to directly engage with government leaders on a weekly basis. The goal of the programme was to create a new generation of Palestinian leaders and develop a political culture of peaceful civic activism and inclusive democratic practices, with the aim of increasing knowledge of and support for democratic political processes.
By talking to the 10 final contestants of the 2015 show, this research aims i) to understand the extent to which The President has had a long-lasting effect on its participants; ii) to ascertain how the acquired knowledge on civic engagement has shaped the participants’ careers; and iii) to define the connection between civic engagement and peace in the Palestinian youth.