Wednesday 17 June 2015

Launch of the Wikiprogress Data Viz Contest "Visualizing Well-being" and Report on the Youth Well-being Consultation

From 17 June - 24 August, Wikiprogress will be running a Data Visualization Contest, "Visualizing Well-being" with the chance to win a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico to attend the 5th OECD World Forum. The Summary Report of the Wikiprogress Youth Well-being Consultation is also now available.


Wikiprogress Data Viz Contest


Data Visualization Contest


There are a couple of big announcements to make on Wikiprogress this week.  First of all, we are running a Data Visualization Contest over the summer called "Visualizing Well-being", with the prize for three winners of a paid trip to Mexico in October this year to attend the 5th OECD World Forum.


The aim of the contest is to encourage participants to use well-being measurement in innovative ways to a) show how data on well-being give a more meaningful picture of the progress of societies than more traditional growth-oriented approaches, and b) to use their creativity to communicate key ideas about well-being to a broad audience.
Contest entrants are asked to create an infographic or data visualisation that addresses one or more of the following questions:
  • How do well-being levels vary between countries, or within countries?
  • How do well-being levels vary for different population groups (e.g. for young people, the elderly, by gender, etc.)?
  • Why is it important to look beyond purely economic indicators (such as GDP) for a better picture of people’s current or future well-being?
  • How can the multi-dimensionality of well-being be effectively communicated to the general public?

Entries will be welcomed in two categories:
1.    Interactive visualisations
2.    Static infographics and visualisations
Entrants are free to use any publicly available data (either official or non-official statistics) to create their entry. Entrants can choose their own definition of well-being and select their data accordingly from publicly available data sources. They are also free to use existing well-being indices and dashboards for inspiration, as long as they use the existing data to create their own original visualisation.

The competition is open to all individuals, both amateurs and professionals. We particularly want to encourage the participation of young people and at least one of the prizes will be reserved for under 26-year olds. 
To find out more, visit the contest website here.
We look forward to seeing your entries!
If you manage a data resource that could be useful to include on the contest website, or on our Wikiprogress Data Portal, please let us know at info@wikiprogress.org

Wikiprogress Online Consultation on Youth Well-being: Summary Report


The first Wikiprogress Online Consultation was a big success and we thank all of you who took part. The consultation had around 300 registered participants and over 500 comments.

A summary report was produced, summarising some of the key points made in the consultation, and can be downloaded here.

The consultation findings and aspects of Youth Well-being more generally were discussed at a special session at the OECD Forum in Paris on 2 June.  Marianna Georgallis, Policy and Advocacy Officer from the European Youth Forum (one of the consultation partners) outlined some of the main issues and led the discussion.  The session, titled “What Does Youth Well-Being Really Mean?” was attended by around 50 people from the Forum, with many youth participants, and there was a lively discussion around the questions raised by the consultation.

Some of the main takeaways from the consultation and the session included:

Studying youth well-being is important because a half of the world’s population is under 30 years old.
  • Youth well-being matters not only for young individuals themselves, but also for their families, communities and countries: countries that are more youth-inclusive tend to be more prosperous, while those that exclude youth tend to have higher crime and more social instability.
  • Defining “youth’ is not straightforward as youth is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood, and from dependence to independence. For some youth means under 24 years, for others under 35. While youth age bands are somewhat arbitrary, there is nonetheless a need for greater precision when talking about youth and their needs: the needs of under-10 year olds are not the same as a 25-year old, for example.
  •  Parents and guardians play a crucial role in youth well-being, but it is important that role is supportive rather than coercive.
  • Youth participation in policy is important, and social media is a good ‘space’ for this. Many young people feel that adults don’t take them seriously. However, examples such as Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign as well as youth councils and university groups show that youth are willing to participate.  As noted previously, social media can harness this willingness if older generations and governments choose to listen.
  • Young people’s rights need to be strengthened as regards a labour market which depends heavily on the labour market: remuneration and opportunities for learning need to be improved and prioritised.

To read more on the consultation, download the report here

We would also like to thank our Consultation Partners for their input and support: