The Best Lab – methods & models for young participation

Young people as a driving force in the art space in rural areas

The Best Lab is a development project where the Best Biennale establishes a completely new division in its operations to deepen and practice youth participation in rural areas and in smaller towns in eastern Skåne. Instead of adults producing activities for young people, the project's program, from idea to evaluation, will be developed, implemented and communicated with and by young people between the ages of 16 and 21, in close collaboration with art institutions in the network.

The aim is to investigate and test what youth participation means in practice for individuals, businesses and society, and how young people's perspectives can contribute to social, economic and environmental sustainability. Through "labs" at participating art galleries and institutions, working methods are tested where young people gain real influence, are defined as experts on their own experiences, are paid according to municipal tariffs and build competence in project production, communication, democratic processes and sustainability issues.

The overall goal of the project is to create lasting structures for youth influence by establishing youth councils at all collaborating organizers and to develop models and guides that show how institutions can build youth participation into their core activities. The material is disseminated both within the Best Biennale network and externally, analog and digital, so that more people can benefit from the methods without having to carry out an extensive development project themselves. In this way, the Best Lab will both change the Best Biennale's own operations and serve as an engine for a broader shift from temporary initiatives to long-term, structural youth participation in the arts and culture sector.

The board's assessment

Decision date: 2025-11-06

Total selection criteria: 625 points

The board's justification: The board approves the project as it is aimed at a target group specifically identified in the strategy, young people. The project aims to develop activities together with young people, instead of for them. By including young people, the aim is to investigate and work on issues around what ”Youth Participation” actually means and how it can be developed, but also what significance young people’s influence can have on adult professionals when young people are given space to influence their domains. The project will build knowledge about collective processes, democratic values, social, economic and environmental sustainability, all of which are absolutely central to young people and in the work for young people’s influence and participation.