Meaningfully engaging young people in the civic process is one of the biggest challenges for us all today. The UK Times reports on an idea which one UK Health Authority tried out which some would say is innovative but others would say its a total waste of public money. What do you think?

"Dismayed by the poor turnout at a series of public meetings to discuss the future of primary healthcare in its area, a health authority in Lancashire resorted to a tried and tested method of luring bottoms on to seats: bribery........."

Gr8 idea. Giv us £££ and we sit thru ur boring meeting

This example brings something important home to me about Engagement which we do well to remember:

Presence is necessary but not sufficient for engagement - Bums on seats does not an audience make.

For some more sustainable approaches to civic engagement check-out Biological civic engagement proposed by think-tank.

Tags: engagement

Bioteams Books Reviews

Animal Instincts in the office

May 29, 2006 | article by Ken Thompson in Book Reviews (37)

Just because we might have selfish genes it does not mean we have to behave selfishly; nature knows when to be nice as well as nasty and nepotism occurs in the biological world too with equal destructiveness as our world. This is according to Richard Conniff author of The Ape in the Corner Office and reviewed in the UK Guardian Newspaper (27 May).

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