To recommend and provide insights to relevant agencies and stakeholders regarding issues and challenges faced by the youth, Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBSC) launched ‘Generation What? – Bhutan’ project, today.
Generation What? in Bhutan is coordinated by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), produced by Yami2 & Upian and co-produced by BBSC.
Generation What? – is the international version of a successful French format developed by independent production companies Yami2 and Upian for France Télévisions. This transmedia format combines an online questionnaire about life, love and work aimed at young people aged between 18-34 and features an interactive website, web videos, TV documentaries, and radio and newspaper content. The responses will be analysed by sociologists in an attempt to increase understanding of the opinions, behaviour, aspirations and values of young people in more than 30 European countries, more than 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East.
In Bhutan, the website containing 161 questionnaires will help the youth aged between 18 to 34 raise their voice based on 21 themes.
Education, employment, parental consent, politics and addiction are among the 21 themes present in the survey format. Over 29,000 youth have already answered the questions. The final result will be declared by early January next year.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BBS, Tshering Wangchuk, most of us undermine the opinions and views of the youth considering their age and experience:
“Once we have completed the survey, I think we will have lots of answers to the youth issues we are facing. We only tend to think that we have the solutions. I am expecting that the results from this project that we are doing will be quite different from what we actually think. It will give us a way forward for future policies,” the CEO of BBS said.
The Generation What?- Bhutan team also went to around 15 districts to develop high-quality public service content, help members from various walks of life to engage with a younger audience and acquire a deeper understanding of how young people think and behave.
“Problems and issues faced by the youth, their situation, what they require and to see how we can study and find out proper resolutions are all included in the project and it will benefit the youth immensely. At the end of this year, through our findings and results, we will be able to inform the relevant agencies, ministries and policymakers on youth issues,” added Deki Choden, a senior producer for BBS.
The project is offered on a multimedia web-based platform and for Bhutan- anyone can take the survey by clicking on https://bt.generation-what.org
