Den Haag Centraal

Policy competition for secondary school students

Den Haag Centraal is a unique project in which Ministries, The Hague City Council and different knowledge institutions from the Hague and Leiden area, collaborate to let pupils experience what policy making is about and gain an understanding of which organizations are involved. Pupils will get inside information about The Hague as the centre of public administration in the Netherlands. During this competition groups of students will be intellectually challenged by writing a policy proposal for a current social topic.

The Den Haag Centraal policy competition consists of a preselecting phase and the Finals in The Hague. Only the best groups of students will get the chance to present their policy proposal in the House of Commons. This yearly event will be organised nationally as of 2010.

Objectives

This project has the following targets:

let students acquire knowledge and get insights into:

1. the task and position of politics, knowledge institutions and different governmental organisations within the process of policy making and legislation.
2. activities of ministries and the actual problematical cases they work on.
3. encourage  students to show an interest in the authorities as a potential employer
4. position The Hague as the centre of public administration and governmental knowledge.

Preselection  phase

During the preselect ion phase of this competition, the different students need to think about solving one of their given topics, drawn up together by Ministries and professionals from secondary schools. After handing in their first design, several groups are asked to elaborate  upon their policy proposal. A website containing relevant information on the topics and instructions for designing a policy plan, will guide them in their preparation. In planning their proposal they will have to consider different policy aspects (eg scientific ground, social values, political aspects etc.) and work on these in small subgroups. During the preselect ion phase they present their ideas to a highly skilled jury who has to decide which students  are to be selected for the finals.

Finals: policy day in The Hague

Only the most talented groups of students will get the chance to participate as a policy maker during the simulation-policy day. During this day insight will be given into the different tasks of ministries, knowledge institutions, companies, political parties and other associations that play a part in this process. This is also a unique opportunity for ministries and organisations involved to inform students about actual social topics. This is how the students get to know more about a government field from the inside. They will gain knowledge about the topics they choose by attending different workshops, from politicians, scientists, professionals, so that they gather enough information to be  able to fine tune their policy proposal. For each topic only one group of students will be selected to present their ideas in front of the jury in the House of Commons. The other pupils act as the opposition and will challenge the information presented. The jury will determine the winner based on the presentations and answers to all the questions.

Contact

If you would like to know more about Den Haag Centraal, please have a look at:

www.science-alliance.nl/denhaagcentraal (in Dutch)
or contact:

Den Haag Centraal
Science Alliance
att. Lotte van den Berg
Koninginnegracht 27

2514 AB  Den Haag
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel.: 070-358 80 60