Local language public participation platforms

There are 74.93 million people in Indonesia that belong to Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012), an astounding 27.94% of the population. A study by IDN Research Institute (2022) showed that Indonesian  Gen Zs are concerned primarily about climate, employment, and the economy, while at the same time holding traditional gender roles and family values. Gen Z is also highly involved in social media, which has become an avenue for civic involvement and exploration. Despite increased virtual presence and the availability of ways to speak out publicly about civic issues, a recent UNICEF (2021) U-report survey of 1,683 respondents showed that only 13% had participated in civic issues and the main reasons for not participating were identified as a lack of knowledge on how to participate (35%) and never being invited (23%).

A 2018 study by Pew Research found that only 18% of Indonesians aged 18-30 have voiced opinions online and 54% said that they would never do so under any circumstances.  “Young people can be a powerful force in promoting democratic resilience and inclusive development,” Mochamad Mustafa, Head of Inclusive Democracy at the Asia Foundation, said of Indonesian youth, “but they also need support to further explore democratic principles, form connections with other pro-democracy actors, and contribute to local political discourse.” The UNICEF study noted that youth empowerment efforts had not sufficiently focused on helping young people to “express themselves safely, and being able to take action in issues that concern them.”  The study suggested that a source of the problem may be that youth are “rarely part of the designing and decision-making of these activities” (UNICEF 2021). According to a United Nations Population Fund brief on engaging young Indonesians in public participation, “Participation of young people is critical to ensure that policies and programmes meet their needs” (UNFPA 2015).”

Youth in Indonesia have a long history of participating in public protests against government policies (Saud and Margono 2021).However, protests as a vehicle for public participation is problematic because they typically only offer a binary choice:  yes, the government will do or stop doing something or no.  Well-functioning public participation mechanisms open the space for creative ideas that often come through dialogue.

BASAbali underscores the critical need for young people to be a part of the design and implementation of public participation mechanisms. We, as part of the community of young people in Indonesia, need to be sure that not only do young people have a way to speak up about civic issues, but that they can do so with language inclusivity and with policymakers listening and engaging with their ideas and opinions.  The problem in a nutshell is how to engage Indonesian youth in participating in the democratic process and how to engage Indonesian policymakers in including them in this process.

We are a non-governmental organization based in Indonesia (“Yayasan BASAbali Wiki”), with a partner nonprofit organization based in the United States (“BASAbali”,  Balinese Language Preservation), together referred to as “BASAbali”).  BASAbali co-produces public participation platforms with the local community.  The platforms are wikis; that is, they are web-based collaborative platforms.  Wikis are a way for people to discuss, collaborate, communicate, and archive ideas.  We worked with our community to create our own wikis rather than using Wikipedia or other existing mechanisms because we wanted to 1) involve our community in the design of the platform so that it makes sense to the community and so that the community knows that it can and should modify the structure of the wiki according to its evolving needs; 2) develop a platform in the local language (note: At the time, Wikipedia was not available in the local Balinese language. We translated enough of the underlying MediaWiki software into Balinese to allow for Wikipedia and other wikis in Balinese to be developed);  3) provide a way for users to easily add content without any special training, something that has been difficult with other wikis;  4) allow for users to add video or audio, especially with links to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms used by the young generation; and 5) easily connect content in the public participation part of the wiki with the community dictionary so that concepts are understood from the local perspective.

Our local language, community-developed wikis facilitate youth participation in key political and world issues and concerns. They provide a digital space for individuals from all walks of life to talk about issues that are important to them, their lives, and their futures. We want to convert the process from users only responding to questions to users also posing questions to policymakers, creating a constructive dialogue between young people and policymakers.  And rather than focus on what policymakers want to hear we are giving the users a chance to ask policymakers what they think.  In this way the wikis can be a bridge to civil participation.  By providing a space to learn from and with policymakers, we are providing youth insights that will encourage them to provide more feedback and to potentially become policymakers themselves in the future.

We regularly hold wikithons around different civic issues.  Each wikithons begins with a webinar during which experts and policymakers discuss and debate the issues to provide the public with a deeper and nuanced understanding of key topics. These webinars are not only provocative learning spaces for young people, but they also underscore a culture of policymakers engaging with and responding to youth, as to the judging of wikithon entries which require policymakers to publicly respond to young people’s suggestions, questions and feedback. This is a significant change from previous political climates, where the public was rarely, if ever, invited to participate in civic issues. We have implemented measures to make the wikis as safe and as welcoming for young people, particularly those from marginalized communities. On-the-ground trainings for teachers (“training of trainers”) and directly for young people to help ensure that young people have the confidence and skills to participate as effectively as possible.

BASAbali empowers young people under the age of 30 in Bali, Indonesia and is now replicating the project to serve South Sulawesi, Indonesia (BASAulesel Wiki). Our goal is to encourage young people to publicly discuss civic issues and engage with policy makers through local-language digital platforms in order to improve young people’s lives and the wellness of their communities. Of the now 3.2 million who have used the wiki in Bali, the vast majority are under age 30 and 60% are female. We make a special effort to engage with marginalized and underrepresented communities, including those in indigenous communities, living in remote areas, and who typically lack confidence of experience speaking out.  We have made a special effort to increase representation for women, who are severely underrepresented in the socio-political sphere. Our data shows that the majority of users and participants are and have been female.

As noted previously, Indonesia does not have a tradition of public participation, especially in public spaces about public issues. For many young users, the wikithons  are the first time they feel comfortable publicly speaking up about concerns and issues that resonate with them. This is also one of the few times that public officials have publicly engaged with youth from diverse backgrounds in a mutual exchange of ideas about how to improve young people’s lives and their communities.  Public officials are increasingly becoming comfortable with and interested in seeking input from young people, evidenced by their willingness to participate and their presence on social media encouraging youth to participate civically and spearhead change.

Participants have expressed comfort in speaking out, in part because the platform has been developed by young people in their community and because the discussions are carried out in the local language. Due to the linguistic diversity of Indonesia, our platform facilitates language inclusivity. Many users still identify culturally and personally with their local languages and find it easier expressing themselves through them. The use of “everyday” language also levels the playing field between the public and policy makers where each party can express themselves and their ideas fully and in the way intended. This leveling would not be culturally possible in person, as young people would feel obligated to use either Indonesian or “high-level” Balinese when speaking with a policymaker in person and policymakers would need to use low Balinese when speaking with young people.  The wikis level the playing field linguistically while modeling a new more equal relationship.  To increase inclusivity, users can respond in text, video, audio, photography, or drawings and no training or extensive digital skills are necessary to participate. To increase accessibility, we pair the online platform with on-the-ground outreach to rural villages where people have internet connection but lack knowledge of how to use internet services or do not have the culture of using it beyond personal communication and entertainment. 

All members of our organization (Yayasan BASAbali Wiki) and board are Balinese people living in Bali and 75% of our team is under age 30, fully representing those served by our solutions.  Balinese Language Preservation (“BASAbali”), based in the US, liaises with international wiki and public participation experts. We have a Youth Advisory Board of high school students to provide insight on wiki and program design and outreach. Our Senior Advisory Board members are top policymakers (i.e. the Minister of Culture for Bali) and representatives from the private sector, academia, media, and other NGOS. Our team also represents different parts of Bali, castes, and religions, and half are women. We base our organizational structure on a system of empowerment.

Our Wiki platforms are community-based and informed by the needs of the community. We provide a wiki structure and then invite local communities to modify that structure according to their evolving needs, both in terms of the existing content and the design of the platform. The majority of the content is added and updated by users themselves, rendering our wiki an archive of community knowledge, culture, and perspectives. As for the design and use of the platform, the wiki in Bali began as a dictionary. Community members were invited to send in cell phone videos in their local language that used words in context. Seeing the power of the wiki, the community quickly transformed the dictionary wiki to also serve as an online cultural encyclopedia and then into a platform for public participation. This decision was not made by BASAbali, but rather by the needs and interests of the user base itself.  In response, we at BASAbali have been encouraging and engaging youth and policymakers to publicly discuss issues that matter to the lives of young people.

To further understand and identify the needs of the community, BASAbali contracted The SMERU Research Institute to perform a review of needs, gaps, and impacts. SMERU identified key barriers that we plan to continue developing solutions to address. These include young Indonesian’s “lack of confidence, critical stance, and the fear of a backlash.” This review along with our own ongoing focus groups and surveys greatly enhance our understanding of the need and our ability to address it in collaboration with the community.  As platforms co-produced with the community, the wikis offer a supportive, accessible, and inclusive environment for youth to engage with their peers and policymakers on key issues, facilitate the exchange of ideas and enhance the diversity of thought, and form an archive of information on critical policy, societal concerns, and proposed solutions. 

We are applying to Solve to expand civic involvement awareness, behavior, skills and experience for young people.  Our greatest needs are financial stability and scaling the project to other regions in the most efficient way.  The opportunity to learn and develop our organizational infrastructure and work toward institutionalizing improving civic engagement culture and becoming sustainable through coaching and mentors who have the expertise to help us grow is exciting. The opportunity to join a team of Solvers will allow us to share the success we have had with our approach and learn new ways to improve our connections to and engagement with youth from other Solvers.

As we continue to grow, we have identified the weak points in our business model. We hope that through Solve, we can learn how to develop a business model that allows for continued expansion and development of our products and services. As such, we seek to learn ways to enhance our strategy to effectively and efficiently scale our proof text and develop a sustainability plan so that our services may continue to operate for the foreseeable future. Additionally, BASAbali has a strong media presence in Indonesia. We believe our approach can be replicated in other provinces in Indonesia and in other countries, but lack connections or presence, as well as knowledge of the legal and cultural barriers, in many of the nearby regions where we could expand. The connections, media exposure, and forum of peers and mentors that facilitates the exchange of ideas and strategies are not only to encourage youth in civic engagement. They are also values that we hold dear to our own hearts as vehicles for improved democracy. We believe this will give us the opportunity to broaden our coverage and collaborate. We need sustainable wiki hosting, understanding from the international tech community of best wiki practices, and additional wiki programming help as we continue to push the envelope of MediaWiki capabilities (“extensions” – many of which we have developed many ourselves to make our wikis as easy to use and function-rich as possible).

Finally, we have begun the process of evaluation through an independent evaluation of our progress. However, we would like to further explore our options for measuring and evaluating our services. We believe that the mentors and other peers engaging with this Solve project will be able to provide valuable insights as to the types of tools and strategies that we can implement to improve evaluation and subsequently enhance our ability to meet the needs of those we serve. 

Our approach changes local and national discourse on key topics of political and social importance by encouraging young people and policymakers to engage in civic dialogue on critical issues. The project takes a dual approach informed by young people and policymakers/government officials. Officials now urge young people to engage in the political sector and are reaching out to teachers encouraging them to teach communication and digital literacy so young people can participate more effectively. Our platform and webinars give these politicians the space to directly communicate with and support youth by sharing ideas and information. Similarly, young people are now using the wiki to raise questions and issues they feel are pertinent, in addition to civic issues already in the spotlight.

Our content is multilingual to encourage participation from the grassroots level while increasing access to that participation at the national and international levels as well through translation into Indonesian and English. Being able to speak and express oneself in one’s native tongue enhances comfortability, accuracy, and levels the playing field between young people and policymakers by having them speak to each other as equals.

We do not limit users from communicating in text alone. Many wiki platforms focus almost exclusively on text-based exchangers. Our wiki encourages users to communicate in a medium they find most comfortable and useful, including text, video, photographs, and audio. There is no special training required to add content for anyone already familiar with basic internet skills, and our team and teacher-base provide basic internet and communication training to those who do not have those skills. This is particularly important for rural communities with lower access to internet services, oral rather than written traditions, and who are culturally or technologically isolated.  Through this process we reduce language, education, and access barriers to inculcate a culture of civic participation.

We have worked hard to gain the trust and respect of policymakers by assisting them in developing the practice of seeking public input and not being afraid of it.  Policymakers from the ministries of economy, tourism, culture, education, women’s empowerment and child protection and the state language agency have all used the wiki to ask for feedback on government policies, responded to youth’s suggestions and served on juries.  Some have even gone on social media specifically to tell millennials not to be afraid to give them feedback via the wikithons.  The Ministry of Education asked teachers to use wikithons in their classrooms and attend our training for trainers’ workshops.  

Our overall impact goal for the next year is to deepen and inculcate a cultural of civic participation in Bali and in South Sulawesi so that young people feel empowered, have the communication and digital skills, and via the wikithons, have the experience to speak up about civic issues constructively and effectively.  We also strive to change the culture of policymakers, so that as a matter of course, they regularly solicit and respond to feedback by young people.

Our long-term impact goals for the next five years and beyond are to (1) continue involving more young people in civic engagement through political and policy discussions; (2) foster involvement in policy-making directly from young people by encouraging them to pursue careers in civic engagement; (3) increase the number of policymakers that engage with youth via the Wiki and wikithons (4) and increase the number of policymakers and government officials that take an interest in youth and incorporate their needs and perspectives into new policies. We also want to become financially sustainable and replicate in other areas. The BASAbali and BASAsulsel Wiki platforms provide young people with the space to voice their needs, concerns, interests, and unique perspectives to other communities and leaders. This subsequently creates the opportunity for change that positively impacts their futures, communities, and Indonesian society at large, all while integrating the perspectives of local cultures that might otherwise be erased or ignored. Initiatives like ours empower, provide skills, and encourage young people to pick up the mantle of democracy and policymakers to welcome those young voices as meaningful contributors into decision-making.  

We have contracted with The SMERU Research Institute to conduct a three-year assessment of our impact. They have provided a baseline and midline report – and are working on a three-year endline evaluation – to evaluate the impact of our activities on youth civic participation in Bali and South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Using in-depth interviews and literature review as qualitative data collection methods, they are providing a detailed analysis of the current civic participation of Indonesian youth as compared with a baseline study they conducted before we started our public participation wikithons. Interviews were and are being conducted with youth respondents, local government officials, and academics. 

The baseline study found that the underlying factors that influence youth civic participation are different based on region. Social norms based on local culture and customs are the primary driver deciding whether or not youth will participate in civic discussions and sectors, or whether they remain silent. For South Sulawesi, collective values and thriving social communities were identified among the main factors that influence youth civic participation. The review found that youth civic participation in both areas was limited, both in terms of youth presence and in the scope of issues addressed, and that the influence of social pressure was evident. Youth in both areas also generally only engaged in less complex forms of participation and faced barriers such as a lack of confidence, fear, and lack of critical stance on key issues.

Since we began, 3.3 people have used the BASAbali Wiki.  We have just started replicating in South Sulawesi (since 2021) where already 10k have used the wiki.  Beyond the numbers is the embracing of the wiki by both young people and policymakers.  Government officials from multiple agencies are actively encouraging young people to participate in wikithons and teachers to enhance communication training to help young people participate more effectively.  Young people are actively participating from all strata of the communities about a range of sexual harassment, public health, economic, educational, gender equality, and other issues.  For each wikithon in either location, about 100-300 enter directly with another 200-300 commenting and 300-1000 voting as measured through the wikis.

BASAbali Wiki has won 8 local or international awards, including from IEEE, UNESCO, International Linguapax, and the Governor of Bali.  Wikithons have been cited in local, national, and international press.

To assess our impact in the future, and for the proposed project with Solve, we will continue to implement the data collection methods already in place, including working with The SMERU Research Institute to examine the reduction of the identified barriers and engagement pattern changes. Strategies used for data collection and program evaluation will include user interviews, surveys, and secondary data analysis.

INPUTS: 

• Youth interest
• Space to reduce barriers
• Technology
• Engagement of politicians
• Engagement of teachers

ACTIVITIES:

• Development of wikis
• Wikithons
• On-the-ground workshops
• Training for teachers
• Webinars
• Delivery of product

OUTPUTS:

• 3.3 million people engaged in the wiki
• 20 policymakers engaged
• Increase in civic participation behavior by youth and policymakers

SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES:

Changes in:

• Awareness of policies
• Knowledge of policies
• Understanding by policymakers of youth needs and interests
• Aspirations for civic involvement
• Motivation to become active citizens

MID-TERM OUTCOMES:

Changes in:

• Civic involvement
• Openness of idea exchange between generations and social status
• Policy changes that affect youth based on their needs

LONT-TERM OUTCOMES:

• Higher percentage of youth voting, publicly voicing opinions, and entering the civic sphere
• Changes in policies that affect youth well-being and participation
• Changes in the attitude of youth toward civic involvement
• Changes in the attitude of policymakers toward youth

IMPACT: 

Increased civic participation of youth because they are the future of Indonesian society.

The core technology that powers our solution is wikis, first developed by Ward Cunningham.  We translated enough MediaWiki, the free, wiki software licensed under the GNU General Public License into Balinese, Makassarese and Buginese to create BASAbali Wiki and BASAsulsel Wiki.  We are informed by the experience of Nupedia and Wikipedia.

At its core, BASAbali values diversity, equity, and inclusion. Founded on the belief that cultural and linguistic preservation are vital elements to the sustainability of Indonesian community's life and identity, we continue to implement strategies and services that are inclusive to individuals from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints. These elements are core in the wiki’s functionality and basis.  The platform is designed for users to communicate in their native, local languages, using words and phrases that they feel confident can express themselves and their thoughts to others. This allows communities who might otherwise shy away from public and civic participation to engage with and represent their unique perspectives, needs, and concerns using local languages at the everyday level.  It also says to the whole Balinese community (and whole communities in South Sulawesi) that their presence is valuable and recognized in the modern digital world.  We use the everyday register to even the playing field between millennials and policymakers.  In person, a young person typically uses a high register when speaking to a government official and the government official uses a low register when talking to the young person.  On the wiki, everyone uses the same “everyday” level, somewhat shocking and altogether empowering.

We make a special effort to engage marginalized voices, including those in indigenous communities, in remote areas, and those who typically do not have a means of expressing themselves. We’ve made a special effort to reach out to young girls and women, which turned out to be the majority of wiki users and wikithon participants since the beginning. These platforms give girls and women the opportunity to be equal to their male counterparts in ways that they don’t have access to on the ground.  In cyberspace, they have an opportunity to have their voices heard as equal to males. This is in part due to the fact that participants can participate anonymously, utilize screen names, and/or the fact that Indonesian names are given based on birth order rather than gender.

To ensure we are open and available to individuals from rural and underserved communities, BASAbali provides assistance with technological and internet access through basic skills and communication education. This helps users learn how to utilize our wiki forums, as well as other platforms, and encourages them to develop the skills to represent themselves and their thoughts to others. Hopefully, this increases diverse representation online, civically, and societally, enhancing equity through the promotion of more equitable practices and policies.

We have several policies and practices that incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusivity.   Internally, we empower all voices on our team to have agency and authority and receive feedback through a unique system of interlocking teams, where a team member – regardless of how they identify their gender, their age, their caste, where they are from, their educational level, marital status, religious practices and other markers – can lead one team and be the member of another team.

Key Resources

• Staff
• Finances
• Technology
• Collaboration with local communities Local, national, and international volunteers

Key Activities

• Co-producing wiki platforms with the community for use by the public to discuss civic issues.
• Engaging young people with the motivation, opportunity, and skills to effectively participate in civic issues.
• Working with policymakers to feel comfortable with engaging young people in discussing civic issues.
• Training teachers in how to teach their students digital literacy and effective communication skills.

Type of Intervention

Through local language “wiki” platforms and through on-the-ground workshops targeted at young people, policymakers and teachers, we promote an ecosystem of public participation.

Segments and Beneficiary

• Young people benefit by having skills, opportunity and motivation to effectively participate in civic issues to improve their lives and their communities.
• Policymakers benefit from hearing the needs and interests of citizens.
• The community benefits from having their voices heard locally, nationally and internationally and by having policies created that are more reflective of their needs and interests.
• Teachers benefit by learning modern communication and digital techniques.

Customers 

Our primary target is young people in Indonesian communities age 30 and younger.  We particularly try to reach under-connected female and marginalized voices. We also target policymakers and teachers to encourage a larger ecosystem of public participation.

Value Propositions  

• Increase in the degree to which young people are willing and have the skills and opportunity to participate with civic issues.
• Increase in the degree to which policymakers actively seek out and respond to feedback and suggestions on civic issues by young people.
• Increase in the degree to which teachers train and encourage young people to participate in civic issues.

Partners and Key Stakeholders 

• Young people in the community
• The local community writ large
• Teachers
• Policymakers

Channels 

We engage young people, policymakers and teachers through on-the-ground trainings, webinars, wikithons and through the community-developed wikis themselves.  We reach marginalized voices, especially those in remote areas, through our in-school or in-community trainings or through “village ambassadors”, young people who represent each village and can help others in their community with extra internet connection and skills training.

Customer Value Propositions   

Voice, social change, and public participation

Cost Structure

Biggest Expenditures

• Personnel: staff overseeing the project, wiki developers, local coordinators, evaluators, graphic designers
• Local Travel and travel between provinces within Indonesia: to engage the local communities
• Supplies: technology licenses, hardware, software, event supplies
• Scaling: the costs increase as we scale and add developers and local coordinators; additional sites on-line and staff to manage those sites; new functionality, hardware and software for the new staff; and travel to engage the local communities

Surplus 

We are a nonprofit organization.  Any donations or grants we receive are invested in servicing our mission of promoting civic participation, particularly among youth.

We’re trying to achieve financial sustainability in two ways:  through applying as a contractor or subcontractor for existing larger initiatives already underway and by leveraging our work through service and other in-kind donations.

For the first category, we have proposals into the Indonesian government, US State Department and private foundations to use our engagement approach to buttress or amplify existing efforts to improve civic participation, particularly insofar as those efforts involve people under 30. 

The second category recognizes that we are working in a country with significant first order needs (clean water, clean air, sanitation) and that Bali is still recovering from a severe economic downturn because of Covid19.  Locally, we have been primarily pursuing support through service or in-kind donations.  Government officials and public figures have served on our juries or participated in webinars without asking for a fee.  Other organizations and influencers are amplifying our work on their own social media – again without a fee – which offsets our need to pay for outreach.  The Indonesian Embassy, hotels in Bali, and other companies and NGOs have donated space for on-the-ground events and wikithon prizes, again offsetting our need to pay directly.

We have already been successful in securing grants from several foundations and companies within and outside of Indonesia totally over $500k over the last 3 years for initiatives in Bali and South Sulawesi, Indonesia.  Several of these foundations have supported us with multiple grants.  We’ve also won a number of prizes UNESCO, IEEE) that have helped directly with funding or encouraging giving from others. We’re currently a global finalist for a US State Department grant. Several international tech companies have supported us by providing credits for website hosting, SMS tools, and the like and National Geographic and Twitter have provided social media and presentation training to several of our team members.