Creative Digital Spaces Erasmus Project

Project Title

Creative Digital Spaces

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 : Partnerships for Creativity

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Creativity and culture; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

The new coronavirus pandemic has drastically reduced the spaces in which young people can socialize, actively create, and engage in social activities. At the same time, it shed a light on the unwillingness of many sectors, especially those based on socializing, to operate in a digital environment.

While working in the fields of youth and culture in 2020, five partner organizations felt the shrinking of social and creative spaces quite strongly. The common mission of all five org. is to promote youth artistic initiatives. We all observe that with the closure of spaces for young artists, the number of initiatives has also fallen sharply. However, those partners who have transferred their support activities to the digital environment to a greater extent have not suffered as much damage.

The purpose of the Creative Digital Spaces project is to contribute to the higher social participation of young people by developing creative digital spaces that will operate on three levels: socializing – community building – taking initiative. In these spaces, young people will strengthen their digital competencies (as defined in the Digital competence framework) and creativity, and create (artistic) social initiatives.

OBJECTIVES are:
1. Young people socialize in digital spaces and use tools to develop creativity, art, and initiative.
2. Through youth work and creative processes, young people acquire digital competencies and competencies for innovation.
3. Through strengthening (digital) cooperation between young people at the international level, increase and strengthen their EU consciousness and active EU citizenship.
4. Young people with low access to digital technologies and those with weak social capital (YWFO) improve their inclusion in society.
5. Youth workers and other “youth companions” acquire the competencies of creating spaces for young people (facilitation, tools, methods, attitudes).
6. The quality of youth work is improved through cross-sectoral networking of stakeholders.
7. The cultural and youth work sectors, which have been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, are strengthened through the use of digital technologies and through the increasing employability of young people.

As part of the project, four INTELLECTUAL RESULTS will be developed:
– Toolbox with useful digital tools and tips for young initiators and artists.
– Online training and a manual on setting up creative digital spaces – for youth and cultural workers.
– Online training and a manual on creating a quality digital coaching / mentoring experience for young leaders of initiatives.
– Manual for local communities: bringing together diverse stakeholders in the local environment to support youth initiatives.

ACTIVITIES
Two mobilities will be performed to test the results:
– training for young initiators, where we will answer the question of how to lead a group of young people from afar, and
– training for youth workers, trainers, and coaches, where we will answer the question of how to support groups and individuals and offer them an inspiring UX in digital environments.

In addition, the following activities will take place in the project, leading to results:
– placement in Slovenia’s presidency of the EU (the topic of the presidency overlaps almost entirely with the topic of the project),
– research of needs and opportunities,
– policy recommendations to support initiatives,
– Two international and three local conferences,
– website and project campaign.
A very important part is also the mutual learning of partner organizations.

PARTICIPANTS: These and other project activities will involve at least 300 different participants (more than 1000 pax in total), including the following target groups: young people facing life transitions, YWFO, youth workers and cultural workers, representatives of local institutions, representatives of youth and cultural sectors.

THE IMPACT of the project on organizations and youth workers will be linked to better adaptation in times of social constraints and in times of physical and social distance, a wider geographical range of participants and new target groups, a greater presence of culture, initiative, and European citizenship. In addition, stakeholder networking will be strengthened, leading to better support for new international initiatives. Youth workers will become better facilitators of digital processes. They will use a wider range of methods, with an emphasis on creative methods and new methods that are specifically adapted for the digital environment.

LONG-TERM BENEFITS: Young people will gain greater resilience to changes and new competencies for leading and managing initiatives that are strongly supported by the knowledge of digital tools. They will use a wider range of tools. All this will better develop their digital competencies and increase their employability in the youth and culture sectors in this »new reality«. The cooperation of the initiatives will be more long-lasting.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 120134 Eur

Project Coordinator

SOCIALNA AKADEMIJA – ZAVOD ZA IZOBRAZEVANJE, RAZISKOVANJE IN KULTURO & Country: SI

Project Partners

• Petrklíč help, z.s.
• ASSOCIAZIONE INTERCULTURALE NUR
• AYUNTAMIENTO DE CABRA, DELEGACION DE JUVENTUD
• Katolikus Ifjúsági Alapítvány