Re-inventing Community radio in the Smartphone Era: a low threshold media toolbox for the construction of inclusive youth communities and critical citizenship Erasmus Project

Project Title

Re-inventing Community radio in the Smartphone Era: a low threshold media toolbox for the construction of inclusive youth communities and critical citizenship

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Social dialogue

Project Summary

In the EU, the growing political polarisation has encouraged the growth of partisan agendas online which together with clickbait, fake news and various forms of misinformation is helping to further undermine trust in media – raising new questions about how to deliver balanced and fair reporting in the digital mass media age. The youth is especially vulnerable to this polarisation. This poses a threat to democracy. 

Active citizenship by and among European youth is an important way of empowering the youth to desist from this polarisation. An important aspect of active citizenship is the role of the media. However, it has long been established that there is a wide gap between the youth and the media. Research shows the youth have less trust in the media. How can this project empower youths, through youth work and make them active and critical citizens, media-savvy and democracy conscious? Empower youths and youth work to be able to detect and appropriately act upon fake news?  

Youth work plays an important role in the transformation process of youths into active citizens. The voice of the youths is not represented in the media and when it does it is mostly in a negative way. Youth work can play a key role in making the youth better understand the importance of actively engaging with the media and empower youths in voicing their opinions, make their own media. This project aims at building a network, based on equal partnerships, in which 5 youth organisations from 5 countries work together to develop an easily accessible toolbox filled with thoroughly tested how-to-manuals for smartphone storytelling focusing on active (European)citizenship.   

This 24-month strategic partnership project aims at developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organisations in the youth field using digital radio as the main tool for active citizenship and democracy (age group 18-30 years old). The project intends to strengthen and build – through training and exchange of good practices – competences of young people in digital media as a medium to practice their democratic right for freedom of expression. Community/digital radio has the potential of providing space for youngsters from different backgrounds to jointly partake in a learning activity that will enhance their digital skills, knowledge and capacities, their understanding of democracy and active citizenship.  

The participants will explore the power of community digital radio and its ability to significantly advance the position of the youth. Radio is a medium which is not yet being used to its full potential in youth work as a facilitator of active citizenship and democracy. The radio reaches a wide range of people and addresses the realities of local life. It is still the second most popular medium accessed at least once a week by Europeans. Community radio often speaks in languages ignored by mainstream media and shares vital information with hard-to-reach audiences.
 
This justifies the need for the transnational aspect of this project as the participants will get an insight into the extent to which the potential of community radio is and has been used in both member and non-member EU states to promote active citizenship and democracy.
The project aims to explore the concept of community radio as a medium which is the voice of the voiceless, the mouthpiece of oppressed people and generally as a tool for active citizenship suited for use in the youth sector. This project will empower 15 young people and 5 youth workers from 5 countries through training and workshops on different topics eg. setting up community radio, smart-phone storytelling, interview techniques, active citizenship through journalism and democracy. Extra focus will be on how these can be facilitated by and within youth work. IO2 addresses this by facilitating youth work with the necessary tools.
 
Why smartphone? In order to lower thresholds, connect and exchange good practices, we need to have a level playing field. Smartphones are highly accessible to European youths and a cheap alternative tot he expensive audio-visual camera’s/equipment which they can not access anyway.
The idea behind the project is developing a tool-box (how-to-manuals) for using community radio as a tool for promoting democracy and active citizenship within youth work. The tool-box will improve the quality of youth work, promote synergies and transnational non- formal learning mobility.

The objectives of the project are:

– Showcasing the power of community radio as a medium for enhancing active citizenship and democratic participation in the society by youths
– Innovatively empowering youth workers and youth work on how to work on active citizenship 

– Building radio skills for youth radio production through cross-sectoral and transnational cooperation
– Promoting European cooperation in the youth work field

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 110868 Eur

Project Coordinator

StampMedia vzw & Country: BE

Project Partners

• ASSOCIATION FOR VOLUNTEERISM VOLONTERSKI CENTAR SKOPJE
• Carpe Diem udruga za poticanje i razvoj kreativnih i socijalnih potencijala djece, mladih i odraslih
• Udruzenje gradjana Omladinski kulturni centar Abrasevic
• Aarhus Global Media