Students will be taking over a shop in the city centre this week in the next stage of their 100 Ideas for Leicester campaign.
The project aims to present 100 ideas to improve life in the city to Leicester City Council next month.
Starting today, students will be running a pop-up shop in Loseby Lane, Leicester, to gather people’s views. They will be interviewing shoppers, passers-by, businesses about their thoughts on subjects including transport, health, business and the environment.
The shop is open from 11am to 4pm daily. Students will be interviewing the public, working on their ideas and having workshops led by senior lecturers to help shape policy suggestions.
The campaign is being run by the Department of Politics and Public Policy and DMU’s Square Mile programme, which works to share the expertise of students and staff with the community.
The project began in December with students interviewing pupils at secondary schools to gather their views and has since expanded to regular vox pops on the streets of Leicester.
This week, prospective students attending DMU’s Faculty Open Day on Wednesday will have the opportunity to visit the shop and talk to current students about the university’s politics in action ethos.
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Leicester have pledged support for the project and are keen to see the students’ proposals.
“This initiative should generate some really good ideas,” said Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby. “The students will bring fresh thinking to some very difficult issues and I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.”
The 100 Ideas for Leicester Campaign builds on the hugely successful 100 Ideas to Change Britain Campaign.
This saw hundreds of students develop policy ideas which were then handed over to politicians at the Houses of Parliament. They will considered for the party’s manifestos in the 2015 General Election.
Posted on Monday 16 February 2015