Details
The absence of youth perspectives in welfare policymaking is problematic for two reasons. First, it undermines the democratic legitimacy of social protection governance. Young people are directly affected by welfare policies—through education support, youth employment initiatives, health care, and intergenerational redistribution—yet they are rarely consulted in meaningful ways. Second, it represents a missed opportunity to draw upon youth creativity, innovation, and future-oriented thinking. Thailand’s youth have demonstrated their capacity to engage in civic debates, mobilise around issues of justice and equity, and propose new solutions through digital platforms, student councils, and civil society networks. Yet these contributions remain peripheral to the institutional design of welfare governance.
Globally, there has been increasing recognition of the importance of moving beyond isolated participatory mechanisms toward a systemic approach to deliberative democracy (Mansbridge et al., 2012; Dryzek, 2010; Parkinson & Mansbridge, 2012). This perspective suggests that no single institution can embody ideal deliberation. Instead, legitimacy arises from how different sites of deliberation—formal committees, public forums, digital spaces, citizen assemblies -interact to fulfil key systemic functions: inclusivity, epistemic quality, and accountability. Within such systems, youth participation is not limited to one role in one committee but rather distributed across multiple arenas where agendas are set, knowledge is produced, decisions are made, and policies are monitored.
In Thailand, however, there has been little effort to conceptualise or institutionalise youth contributions within the broader deliberative system of social protection governance. Existing participatory mechanisms within the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) and provincial-level committees tend to be adult-centric, overlooking the systemic value that youth could bring across different stages of the policy cycle. The result is a fragmented governance process that risks being less legitimate, less inclusive, and less adaptive to the needs of future generations.
To tackle these challenges and bring significant changes, this project will respond to that gap by piloting an innovative model: a Youth Deliberation Hackathon designed to generate both substantive policy ideas and a system mapping framework of youth contributions. Over the course of two days, youth participants will:
1. Deliberate on welfare priorities, identifying which vulnerable groups and issues matter most.
2. Co-design prototype solutions for social protection challenges affecting those groups.
3. Map their contributions against systemic deliberative functions—agenda-setting, problem analysis, solution generation, decision support, and accountability.
The final output will be a Youth Charter, reflecting collective demands and proposals that synthesise agenda priorities, prototype solutions, and pathways for embedding youth voices across Thailand’s welfare governance system. Rather than limiting youth to tokenistic participation in individual committees, the Charter will frame their contributions within a broader deliberative system, aligning with theory on systemic deliberative democracy while offering practical insights for reforming Thailand’s participatory governance.
Programm
Activity Day 1: Youth Deliberation Lab
08.00 – 08.30 hrs.
Registration and Handouts Distribution
08.30 – 09.30 hrs.
Icebreaking Activity
09.30 – 10.15 hrs.
Welcome Remarks by Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, KAS Thailand, and Representative from government agency
Introduction of the Project by Project Leader, Asst. Prof. Dr. Ajirapa Pienkhuntod, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University
Lecture on “What is Deliberation Model?”; “Why is youth important in bringing about the process?”; “How can youth be the part of composing the deliberation model?” by Asst. Prof. Dr. Ajirapa Pienkhuntod, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, speaker and project leader
10.15 – 10.30 hrs.
Coffee/tea Break
10.30 – 12.30 hrs.
Session 1 – Youth Deliberation Labs: Agenda-Setting and Policy Solutions Co-Design
- Dividing participants into 10 groups (4-5 persons per group) to brainstorm on:
- What is the most urgent issue to tackle with in Thailand’s social protection system?
- Which group of the vulnerable people should be prioritised?
- Forming teams based on the urgent issues of each vulnerable group (two sub-groups per one vulnerable group of people)
- Applying quality consultation techniques (reasoning, seeking consensus)
- Mission: Setting the agenda and designing welfare approaches/projects that respond to the needs of the target vulnerable groups
- Utilising the form: Defining Problem à Solution Approach à Stakeholders à Feasibility
- Presenting brainstorming results in the plenary session (2-3 agenda per group)
- Speaker and Moderators will summarise them into 3-4 shared agenda points along with proposed solutions
12.30 – 13.30 hrs.
Lunch Break
13.30 – 15.30 hrs.
Session 2 – System Map Prototype: Prototype Development, Peer Feedback, and Youth Functional Roles
One group taken care by one group facilitator
- Refining the concept into a “System Map Prototype for the Future” illustrating the roles of youth (in the format of poster, canvas, or brief)
- Discussing and designing the system map
- What roles do youth play in the phase 1 of the process?
- What positions and roles should youth have in the actual system?
- Guiding questions – “If youth were genuinely included, where would they be in the system, and what would they be responsible for?”
- Providing role cards such as: Agenda-setting, Deliberation (discussion/debate/reflection), Monitoring (follow-up, oversight, public accountability), Innovation (designing innovation, digital tools, creative activities), Bridging (linking local voices to the national level)
- Locating the above-mentioned roles onto the system map
- Output: A map showing youth’s integration as part of the system
- Exchanging feedback between groups with similar and also different topics
15.30 – 15.45 hrs.
Coffee/tea Break
15.45 – 17.00 hrs.
Session 3 – Wrap up Day 1
- Reflection: What have we learned today from the deliberation model?
- Homework: Each group improves their system map prototypes to present on Day 2
Activity Day 2: Youth Functional Role
09.30 – 09.40 hrs.
Starting Day 2, Going over and reviewing knowledge and outputs gained on Day 1
- Presenting agenda points and proposed solutions (3 minutes per each group)
09.40 – 10.30 hrs.
Session 4 – Pitching Ideas on Youth Functional Role (Part 1)
One group taken care by one group facilitator
- Two groups present their “Youth Functional Role Map Prototype” (15 minutes per each group)
- Mentors and judges (from academics, government offices, and civil society) give feedback, ask questions, and offer suggestions (10 minutes per each group)
10.30 – 10.45 hrs.
Coffee/tea Break
10.45 – 12.30 hrs.
Session 5 - Pitching Ideas on Youth Functional Role (Part 2)
One group taken care by one group facilitator
- Three groups present their “Youth Functional Role Map Prototype” (15 minutes per each group)
- Mentors and judges (from academics, government offices, and civil society) give feedback, ask questions, and offer suggestions (10 minutes per each group)
12.30 – 13.30 hrs.
Lunch Break
13.30 – 15.30 hrs.
Session 6 – Compiling All Ideas/Proposals for Youth Charter
- Synthesising a shared agreement: Consolidating the best proposals into a common framework
- Developing a “Youth Charter for Inclusive Social Protection” consisting of:
- Key youth-defined agendas (from Day 1)
- Designed solution approaches (from Day 1)
- Framework of youth positions and roles in social protection policy process (from Day 2) --- defining mandates, responsibilities, required supports (training, mentorship, resources), and integration points within existing government structures/working committees
15.30 – 15.45 hrs.
Coffee/tea Break
15.45 – 16.30 hrs.
Closing
- Awarding certificate to all participants
- Group photos
- Next steps: Plan of Publicising and Submitting the Youth Charter to related government agencies, such as Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS), Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), and so on.
Themen
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