Digital Transformation

Digital transformation has become a big part of our lives. Panel sessions on Participatory and Inclusive Digital Transformation bring together experts from the European youth field, policy making, research and private sector to discuss what digital transformation in this context means, what kind of competencies are necessary to adapt, what are the opportunities and challenges, how to be a leader instead of a follower, how to connect with young people in this changing reality.

Panel Sessions

The series includes 6 panel sessions (1,5h per session):

1. Understanding Digital Transformation, 27 September 2022, 13:00 CEST
2. Digital Inclusion and Participation, 8 November 2022 13:00 CET
3. Digital Sustainability, 29 November 2022 13:00 CET
4. Accessibility and Infrastructure, 31 January 2023 13:00 CET
5. Ethics & Digital rights, 07 March 2023 13:00 CET
6. Emerging technologies and innovation, 28 March 2023, 13:00 CEST

All panels will be on Facebook live + YouTube live.

Next Panel Session on Digital Inclusion & Participation

For the next session “Digital Inclusion and Participation” on November 8, 4 experts in the field of inclusion and digital participation (Jasmin Rukolainen, Adina Serban, Thomas Schallhart and Panu Räsänen) will delve into the latest academic research on the topic of how participatory and inclusive digital transformation can be achieved. They will touch on topics like accessibility, creating safer spaces and gaming and VR as tools for youth participation.

Digital inclusion is about people, particularly those that are disadvantaged and underrepresented, having access to, as well as the skills to use, online tools.

Alongside inclusion, digital participation is vital, giving people the knowledge, technology and online spaces to fully participate in the digital world, whether that be education, civic life or democracy.

Read also

Teaching Life Competences | Online Free Course

YOUCAN: Youth Migrant Dropout Tackling: Capacity Building

L'articolo Digital Transformation | A Series of Panels by SALTO Youth proviene da Youth Networks.

The conference will help strengthen a Europe-wide network of professionals working with youth on LGBTQI+ issues while presenting the main outcomes of the project. It is an open call for any individual or organisation interested in the Up4Diversity lines.

Up4Diversity Final Conference

Who? The conference will be particularly addressed to final stakeholders, professionals in the area of gender, LGBTIQ+ issues and youth, social agents and policy makers. The scientific community is also welcomed.

What? The project’s main outcomes and products will be presented, such as the training materials and workshops for youth professionals to foster upstander zero-violence educational environment.

How? Following a communicative orientation, this conference will include the voices of the participants, counting on LGBTIQ experts, youth professionals, volunteers, trainers and other social agents to talk about UP4Diversity contributions. The conference will be carried out in English, with the possibility of simultaneous translation to the official languages of the project on the main keynotes.

How To Participate

This conference will include a diversity of voices from both participants and end-users, counting on LGBTIQ experts, youth professionals, volunteers, trainers, members of national and European administrations, and other social agents to talk about Up4Diversity contributions and its impact.

To participate register here.

It is open to policymakers, educators, teachers, youth or LGBTIQ+ entities.

L'articolo Up4Diversity | Final Conference | 5th July 2022 proviene da Youth Networks.

The Framework

Inclusion and diversity are part of the core values of the European Union. Diversity is indeed what features the European society, besides representing at the same time its strength. Taking that into consideration, the context is a good starting point to enhance cohesion and inclusiveness.

EU Programmes and Inclusion&Diversity

The European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus Plus are therefore key programmes to pursue the need of cohesion and inclusiveness. For this reason, the EU Programmes should provide opportunities that are accessible to all. The evidence tells that there are in fact many young people facing barriers when it comes to opportunities. Those are the people having fewer opportunities in education, training and youth work. People then to address by policy initiatives.

Inclusiveness is not new to the Erasmus Plus programme. But the way further is way still far to reach actual and effective inclusiveness, as evaluation and research point out.

The new Erasmus Plus Programme 2021 includes a chapter on inclusion, among other elements. It therefore requests the European Commission to establish a framework for inclusion measures outlining the main areas of work for the next seven years in this regard.

Recommendations

• Target groups: the main target groups of the Inclusion and Diversity strategy are people with fewer opportunities in life, which put them at a situation of disadvantage in comparison with their peers. This refers to both participating in the programmes and in education and training systems.

The exclusion factors that determine the situation of disadvantage may be one of the following:

• disabilities,
• health problems,
• cultural differences,
• social barriers,
• economic barriers,
• barrier linked to discrimination,
• geographical barriers.

• Inclusion and Diversity as priorities in the assessment process: inclusion and diversity are part of the criteria to select applications for funding and to allocate financial support. Quality projects that actively address inclusion and diversity and that involve participants with fewer opportunities, newcomer and grass-root organisations should get priority in the grant awarding process.
• Preparatory visits: when participants with fewer opportunities are part of mobility activities, the organisers should carry out planning visits to the hosting organisations, together with these participants, if relevant.
• Reinforcement in Mentorship: when dealing with people with fewer opportunities, it is important to keep particular attention to the mentorship process to support them.
• Dedicated financial support: the Erasmus Plus and ESC Programmes offer an additional financial support when including people with fewer opportunities.

• Smaller, easier-to-access actions: the Programmes provide smaller and more flexible grant amounts, simpler administrative and reporting requirements, as well as shorter project duration for organisations with smaller administrative capacity. This is the case of organisations supporting people with fewer opportunities.
• Step-by-step capacity building pathways
• Mobility duration: short-term and small-scale mobility can be a first experience for individuals with fewer opportunities who, due to their circumstances, cannot take part in or do not feel it for a standard mobility duration.
• Local European activities
• Online exchanges
• Language learning support

The full text of the Guidelines is available online in English.

Considering the above, applicant organisations should address inclusion and diversity in their projects.
They play indeed a key role in making inclusion real, especially in terms of organisational development (capacity building), and of outreach to and interaction with participants before, during and after the project.

Read also

Case Study: Youth Education in Post-COVID EU

New Features of European Solidarity Corps 2021-2027

L'articolo European Solidarity Corps (ESC): Inclusion and Diversity Strategy proviene da Youth Networks.