Make your own law
ProDemos, The Hague (NL), 2021
Political decisions made in The Hague affect everybody in the Netherlands, young people included. Now pupils can craft their own laws using an app.
Educational programme
On a school trip to ProDemos, a centre for democracy education in The Hague, pupils learn how they can exert political influence as well as how politics affects them. With Studio Louter, ProDemos developed a programme to teach secondary pupils how new laws get made.
At the heart of government
The ProDemos educational programme starts in the classroom, where pupils write a bill together. They'll use it later, on their visit to The Hague. There, the pupils break up into small groups and complete assignments on a tablet. These pull together the different parts of the programme and represent the various steps on the road to a new law. As the pupils take pictures, vote and draw, they learn about the democratic process, from demonstrating for change to the king's signing of a new law, in an interactive way.
At the end of the visit, all the assignments come together in an animated film about the pupils and their bill. The animation is shared with the teacher so the class can discuss the assignments afterward.
Constitution walk
A walk down Lange Voorhout takes the pupils to the new temporary site of the Dutch House of Representatives. Along the way, they play a fun interactive GPS game that teaches them about citizens’ rights and duties as set down in the Dutch Constitution. As they pass various landmarks – the statue of the 19th-century prime minister Thorbecke, the Dutch Supreme Court, the Netherlands Court of Audit, the Kloosterkerk – questions pop up, and the pupils answer them in teams. When the time is up and the groups reconvene, it’s time to win final points in a closing game.
Photos: Bas van Vliet
Credits
Client
ProDemosContent Design
Studio LouterInteractive Media Production
Studio Louter
Bente van Bourgondiën
Studio Parkers