Month: December 2023

On December 12th, 2023, partners of the Digital Youth project assembled in Nicosia, Cyprus, for the conclusive face-to-face meeting of the initiative. This gathering provided an invaluable opportunity to contemplate the project’s achievements and milestones, steering conversations toward the conclusive phases and shaping discussions around the project’s final steps. Partners seized the opportunity for introspection, evaluating both successes and areas warranting improvement.

At its essence, Digital Youth remains committed to empowering and aiding youth workers in cultivating their digital proficiency and knowledge. For those seeking further insights into the project, additional information can be found at: www.digital-youth.eu.

Working with young people is already challenging enough: new trends, different upbringing, various opinions. Working digitally is its own challenge altogether: how to make people participate? How to not make a simple lecture but create an interactive exercise? How to not make the screen freeze?

Combining the two and making it work, is the goal of the Digital Youth project since 2021. The project mixes digital work with youth work, and has committed itself to producing a guide and e-learning content that teaches professionals in youth work how to make engaging content for their lessons, and sessions.

The project includes the efforts of various organisations from Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and Spain, therefore including insight from all these countries. Thus, the partners created the expected guide and learning content, inviting all youth workers, educators, counsellors, and trainers to explore the results on the project website, www.digital-youth.eu, and to create an interactive and motivating learning environment for the young people in Europe.

Because we all need to adapt to the new digital age, its benefits, and the challenges that come with it. Together we can overcome and engage in a new age of digital youth work.

Further information can be found on the project website: www.digital-youth.eu or via the Spanish partner: Consultoría de Innovación Social, www.cis-es.eu

On the 30^th of November 2023, the Consultoría de Innovación Social, operating from Torre del Mar, conducted a local multiplier event with the Centro Cultural La Llave in Málaga. The event was attended by various professionals in the fields of youth work, as well as students in the field of ICT skills and education.

During the event, the organisation promoted the project’s results, including its e-learning platform and learning content, its manual on digital youth work and the policy and recommendations paper which features more information on the project and its suggestions for improving youth work in the future.

The event received good feedback from the participants, highlighting the ease of availability and navigation to the platform, and praise for the materials on introducing new and easy online tools that can turn a boring online lecture into an engaging learning experience, inducing the active participation of everyone attending and improving the learning process.

The Digital Youth project features partners from Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and Spain and will finalise around the end of 2023.

Further information can be found on the project website: www.digital-youth.eu or via the Spanish partner: Consultoría de Innovación Social, www.cis-es.eu

The Digital Youth project is pleased to share its final Joint Policy and Recommendations Paper with the public. After conducting various trainings and focus groups with young people, youth workers, and educators in Spain, done by the Consultoría de Innovación Social in Torre del Mar, and the other partner countries, the paper combines the collected efforts on recommendations and suggestions for improved youth work in the future.

The paper includes good practices, as well as direct examples from the partner countries of Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and Spain, on how to overcome challenges in youth work, especially when using digital tools and methods.

While digital interaction has become more frequent and regular in the last years, digital youth work still struggles to adhere to certain standard and is therefore often provided in an in-person format.

The paper provides more insight in how to handle challenges such as engaging new participants in training or sessions, as well as how to make learning more interesting. The recommendations stated in the paper are directed towards the youth workers, as well as the institutions working with young people in Spain.

Because change and improvement must happen on all levels with everyone participating.

Further information can be found on the project website: www.digital-youth.eu

The Digital Youth project recently completed its PR3 Focus Group online in Ireland, bringing together 10 youth workers and trainers for a dynamic discussion on challenges faced in youth work and the implementation of digital youth work initiatives. The two-hour session explored diverse perspectives and insights from participants with varying levels of experience.

Facilitated online, the PR3 Focus Group delved into the goals of the Digital Youth project, providing an overview to the 10 participants. Outreach to these individuals, representing various youth organisations, was conducted through email. The mix of participants included those already familiar with the project and others new to its concept, creating an engaging and diverse online discussion.

The participants engaged in an engaging discussion, addressing main challenges in youth work and digital youth work implementation in Ireland, identifying challenges such as a lack of resources, the changing technological landscape, and online safety concerns. The insights gained from this focus group will inform the Digital Youth Project’s ongoing initiatives, ensuring that digital youth work remains inclusive and addresses the specific challenges faced by youth workers in Ireland.

The Digital Youth project recently completed its pilot implementation of the innovative Digital Youth eLearning Platform and Digital Learning Resources, marking a significant milestone in advancing digital skills among youth workers and promoting engaging learning experiences. The pilot implementation comprised two training sessions held in Cavan, Ireland, and Virginia, Ireland, on the 3^rd and 25^th October 2023, respectively. The events aimed to introduce participants to the Digital Youth project, providing them with an opportunity to explore the eLearning platform and Digital Learning Resources.

The first training was attended by 13 participants, including youth workers and aspiring social workers. The second event, attended by 12 regional youth workers, showcased varying levels of digital literacy. The diverse mix of participants promoted the exchange of best practices and valuable advice among the groups. Participants’ feedback emphasised various positive aspects of the platform, including the variety of digital tools, best practice examples, digital skills self-assessment, and engaging evaluation methods. Many participants commended the platform’s accessibility, self-paced nature, and real-world relevance, making it suitable for individuals with different levels of tech-savviness and busy schedules!