Exploratory walks and meetings with young citizens

Opportunities for discussion and awareness-raising on-site

Through the student representatives at the Gymnase de la Cité, “Ville en tête” brought together a group of young people from Lausanne interested in participating in the participatory process outside of the school setting. An approach that is as autonomous and flexible as possible was therefore prioritized to give participants the opportunity to express themselves according to their preferences and availability.

Exploring the Scope

We opted for an immersive approach, (re)discovering the area with participants through exploratory walks. The on-site tour sparked many comments and insights about the area, most of which had previously been little-visited. The young people’s very spontaneous discussions and comments gave us insight into their perceptions of and use of these spaces and allowed us to understand the places from their perspective.

An explanatory brochure

As an informational resource and to enable young people to participate independently in the process, “Ville en tête” has developed an explanatory brochure:

- so that they can (re)discover these major spaces in the city from different thematic perspectives;

- to encourage them to explore their everyday living environment with a fresh, more informed, and critical perspective;

- to encourage them and help them articulate their opinions and identify the key issues they wish to communicate and pursue further.

This brochure also served as a discussion guide during a classroom session with a group of high school students following the Riponne-Tunnel weekend, to present to them and discuss with them the summary of the walks and feedback from previous meetings.

Against the backdrop of a climate strike

The exploratory walks took place in the wake of the climate strike, a major movement led by young citizens that has been at the forefront of public debate since early 2019. The young people we met during the walks had all, without exception, been part of this strike movement. Ville en tête therefore sought to echo this uprising, which has notably left its mark on the recent history of Place de la Riponne. In this context, during the discussions, particular attention was paid to environmental issues as well as to the major civic role that Place de la Riponne has played as a venue for demonstrations and citizen advocacy.

An Instagram account “riponne_tunnel”

To complement the discussions that took place during the exploratory walks, an Instagram account was created with the young people, with the aim of cataloging and sharing the issues of concern to the young audience in a creative way. This account, which is still active, is just waiting to be enriched with new photos, comments, and hashtags from the explorers of La Riponne and Le Tunnel (even after the participatory process has ended)!