What if I were mayor? Young people in the game to shape the local policies of the future

Sustainable development, gender equality, LGBTQIA+ rights, workers’ defence, all challenges at the centre of the role-playing game “What if I were Mayor?” created to bring young people closer to local political decision-making processes. The game was developed by the Local Development Unit in the context of the project ‘Local authorities and young people for the drafting of Voluntary Local Reviews in Italy’ financed by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and carried out in collaboration with the University of Florence and the Metropolitan City of Florence.

The project aims at involving and raising the awareness of local authorities, associations and young people in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local level, in coherence with the Sustainable Development Vectors contained in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development.

In order to foster the full involvement of young people by making them protagonists in the localisation processes of the 2030 Agenda, the Local Development Unit initiated two parallel and complementary processes. On the one hand it has involved young people and associations with strong youth participation in the drafting of the Youth Local Review of the Metropolitan City of Florence and at the same time it has developed and promoted the role-playing game ‘What if I were Mayor?’.

The game aims at involving young people in the real dynamics of local politics and confront them with the choices and concessions that have to be made in order to be elected. During the game, participants are assigned the roles of different stakeholders, each with specific priorities and Sustainable Development goals to promote. Two players (or two groups of up to 3 people each) represent the mayoral candidates, while the other players are randomly assigned characters representing citizens of different age groups, environmentalists, industry associations, trade unions and organisations involved in the fight against poverty.

Each group must promote its claims and negotiate its representation with the mayoral candidates in a rich and representative discussion. The mayoral candidates, who have also been assigned a portfolio, must also allocate all resources according to the demands they wish to promote or negotiate with the various interest groups. After a certain amount of time for discussion, the creation of alliances and counter-alliances in which everything is allowed, the 2 election programmes are presented and the mayoral candidates are elected.

‘What if I were Mayor?’ was repeated 18 times over the duration of the project together with groups of university students, environmental groups, scouts, volunteers of the Misericordia and other civic associations. The election programmes drawn up in each of these repetitions were collected, analysed so as to highlight innovative proposals, and summarised in the Youth Local Review.

Although the game is a simulation, it not only stimulates debate, reflection on urban priorities and policies, but also serves as fertile ground for civic education, collaborative learning and active participation in shaping priorities for the future.

Youth Local Review of the Metropolitan City of Florence

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