"<< Objectives >>""YOU Think Critical"" has two main goals: 1st, we want to share knowledge among our organizations as well as strengthen our partnership. The exchange of knowledge should lead to both partners growing as organizations. The 2nd goal is to provide youth workers with methods to practice critical thinking skills with young people, especially in relation to fake news. The indirect goal is therefore to train young people to recognize fake news and to be able to think critically in principle.<< Implementation >>The project is divided into five activities. First, a workshop on P4C is developed (1), then implemented (2). Next, a workshop on online adaptation of P4C and the use of public relation methods will be developed (3), then implemented (4). Finally, we jointly develop a guide on P4C in the digital space, which also includes recommendations for the accompanying use of PR.<< Results >>At the end of the project, Youth Agency should know the P4C method well. At the same time, Anthropolis should be able to apply the method safely in the digital space. Additionally, Anthropolis should be familiar with the basics of efficient public relations, especially in the context of the P4C method.A guide should have been created that makes it easy for youth work professionals to train critical thinking and dealing with fake news with young people using the P4C method and PR tools."

"<< Background >>Political awareness begins with an interest in concrete issues and a debate about values. In addition, the mere knowledge of how democratic processes work and where and how one can start with one's political agenda is another prerequisite for democratic action. The ""See the Signs"" project aims to address both of these facets.For young people in particular, the idea of Europe is no longer readily recognizable. Peace and global networking seem to be taken for granted. At the same time, however, nationalism and the threat to democracy are on the rise in parts of European society, both in the online space and in other everyday contexts. Young people in particular are confronted with problematic content and conditions that disregard human rights. Through the close networking of the Youth Agency with the reporting office ""respect! against Hatespeech on the Internet"" and the counseling network ""kompetent vor Ort. Gegen Rechtsextremismus"" (""competent on the ground. Against right-wing extremism"") of the Baden-Württemberg Youth Foundation, it has insights into daily ""trends"" reported by committed young people on hate speech, racism, conspiracy narratives and fake news.In the project ""See the Signs"" we, four organizations with a special interest in democratic values, global learning and European awareness, want to counter. Through a networked concept around a transnational, hybrid exhibition, we want to enable young people to creatively express their views on the threats to democracy in their everyday lives, in their countries.Instead of making these experiences and perceptions, which are often personal and traumatizing for young people, appear as a situation that is perceived as unbearable, they are made visible in the form of a hybrid exhibition with an accompanying concept.<< Objectives >>The exhibition is made up of display boards with graphics and text on the one hand, and videos using the digital storytelling method on the other - the young people thus have their say directly and can creatively reinforce the emotional aspect, which words alone are often unable to express, through the use of images and sound. According to research in the partner countries and beyond, this form of visualizing young people's views on this aspect of the threat to peaceful coexistence in Europe, which is currently growing menacingly in importance, is not yet available. Another special feature: the exhibition elements as well as the accompanying pedagogical material are conceived, developed and produced in parallel for a realization of an exhibition in presence as well as for an exhibition in the online space on the video conference platform Gather.town.A peer concept for the qualification of committed young people as ""Exhibition Guides See the Signs online/offline"" with accompanying materials as well as an exhibition manual round off the concept in order to ensure the use and multiplication of the exhibition content and methodology after the end of the project. We want to raise awareness of democracy as an endangered achievement among youth work professionals and young people in our networks and create occasions for debate by making it visible. At the same time, we want to encourage young people to bring their own topics into the public discourse through this innovative form of exhibition. Especially for young people from underrepresented and marginalized groups, this form holds a great opportunity to move out of the ""invisible"" space and empowers them to name grievances and formulate demands. This takes place in a safe, pedagogically supportive framework - which is particularly necessary when dealing with discrimination-sensitive topics that come into the public eye in this exhibition.<< Implementation >>In order to achieve our overall result - a hybrid, transnational exhibition on the threat to democracy from the perspective of young people - several steps with different approaches and focuses are necessary. The guiding theme is the view of young people on the problem, which leads to the different exhibition objects. At the same time, committed young people in the partner countries are to be empowered to act as peers. It is planned that a core group of 10-25 professional youth workers and engaged young people from each participating country with close ties to the network of one of our organisations, is implemented as a permanent project working group participating in the working process and reflecting the activities throughout the project. The core project working group is expected to take part as participants in the international training acitivities as well as acting as multiplicators on their national levels. Some of them would be qualified as exhibition guides for the vernissage at the transfer conference near the end of the project.At the project meetings, a steering group with two representatives from each of the partner organisations agrees on the course of the project, discusses adjustments if necessary and makes project-relevant decisions within the framework of the approval. The kick-off meeting in May 2022 will take place in Germany.The Workshop Method Training in Italy in July 2022 marks the start of the project. Here, the Core Project working group with 18 participating young people and 8 youth work professionals from the organisations and their close networks will meet for the first time. In addition to basic team building, the participants will be introduced to the content of the project and will be involved and qualified as actors in the conception and creation of the results to be produced.Parallel to this training, a project meeting of the steering group will take place at the same location. On the last day of the training, the two groups will meet to establish a common basis for a cooperative project.Building on the training, the partner organisations start working in national working groups to develop the content for the upcoming exhibition elements. These national processes build on many years of experience of all partners in the field of participatory youth work and on their distinctive youth work networking structures. During the project, there is a link back to the partner organisations via the Core Project Working Group and the Steering Group.<< Results >>Results:A transnational exhibition about endangered democracy from the point view of creative young people will be conceived, set up and realised in the form of a hybrid vernissage and an ongoing permanent exhibition.A virtual exhibition space on the video communication platform gather.town with a total of 15 rooms that can be used by 100 people at a time will be designed, produced and published with all emerging project results integrated as interactive elements within this virtual space.20 digital storytelling videos in the project languages plus in English (total of 100 single versions) will be designed, produced and published as part of the exhibition.20 exhibition boards in the project languages plus in English (total of 100 single versions) will be designed, produced and published as part of the exhibition.One Training conception and accompanying materials for a qualification of young peers to become hybrid exhibition guides ""See the signs"" will be developed, produced and published online.One Conception of Digital storytelling (DST) trainings and production of accompanying materials for a qualification of project partners and young peers to become multipliers of the digital storytelling method will be developed, produced and published online.8 online tutorials on the use, control and special features of the virtual exhibition space on gather.town will be designed, produced and used as self-learning instruments online for the youth working professionals training young exhibition guides.Outcome:For the partner organisations and close network partners of the Core Project Working Group:Strengthening methodological competence and expertise: -deepened knowledge through theoretical teaching and practical application of Digital Storytelling.- deepened knowledge through theoretical teaching and practical application in the use of the interactive video communication platform Gather.town- associated strengthening of digital competences in general- deepening of existing knowledge and methods in the field of ""global learning- deepening knowledge of current political challenges and obstacles in democracy work in the partner countriesFor young people and youth workers visiting the exhibition (at the opening and on follow-up dates):Strengthening political awareness through:- new insights into the threats to democracy from the perspective of young people- Knowledge about differences in threats to democracy between the participating partner countries- Expanding one's own possibilities of expression of democratic issues through artistic realisationStrengthening digital competences through the use of the interactive online exhibition on Gather.town"

"<< Background >>In the wake of the Corona crisis, successful youth participation measures were abruptly interrupted or ended. The institutions and employees of youth work and youth social work were and are not or are not sufficiently prepared for this new situation in terms of technical equipment, level of qualification and the applicability of previously accessible methodological-didactic approaches. Up to now, digital offers of youth education have only been sporadic or pilot-like, although good concepts have been developed in some cases. The transfer of physical offers to online offers also seems to succeed only in the beginning. digital participation formats will become more important (in the future).The experience of the cooperation partners involved in this project in their networks shows that the skills in digital education are usually only available in the basics of the youth work professionals and those who are volunteers in this field. As a result, youngsters and young adults are lacking high-quality services on a broad scale- especially young people from previously under-represented groups. A functioning practical transnational concept has so far been sought in vain. On the other hand, the current crisis situation opens up previously untapped possibilities: digital exchange, digital offerings suddenly become necessary.The two key horizontal priorities of the project will be implemented by developing an innovative implementation concept for a transnational curriculum ""International Digital Youth Participation"" for the qualification of professionals in youth work, youth education and volunteers working in the field, including educational institutions with direct access to these specialists. The focus is on supporting the experts to transfer their expertise in the development and application of implementation strategies for youth participation from the real world to the digital space. The need for this has been around for some time - but this has gained considerable momentum in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic and the associated digitalization pressure.<< Objectives >>Against the background of the access to traditional education and participation offers on the ground, which was made significantly more difficult by the Covid19 crisis, the challenges faced by youth work/youth education professionals to implement participation opportunities for young people have once again increased. Qualification offers in the field of digital youth participation are not enough and are not subject to standards such as those of the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Teachers (DigCompEdu) - which would be necessary for the recognition of learning content and acquired qualifications beyond national borders. Target groups:- paid and voluntary professionals in the field of youth work/youth education and integrative work with physically and/or mentally impaired young people, as well as working with young people with refugee experience who have so far had insufficient access to traditional educational services. - Youth/youth education professionals in training or at studying.<< Implementation >>1) A transnational implementation concept with seminar plans (PR1) for youth work professionals will be developed to strengthen their skills for the conception and implementation of digital offerings in the field of youth participation. Based on this, country-specific expansion modules are being developed. The main focus is on training in the application of digital youth participation with highly inclusive elements (PR 1). The resulting seminar plans are permanently available free of charge after the project has been completed in the form of download materials (german/English) on the project homepage.2) Accompanying as application material is developed a seminar box with digital communication strategies, planning games and other tips and tools for e-participation (PR 2). The materials are designed in such a way that they can be used both in an accompanying way to the seminar and independently in order to achieve the highest possible dissemination in the regular structures of youth work/youth education. The seminar box is permanently available free of charge after the project has been completed in the form of download materials (german/English) on the project homepage. An accompanying transnational project homepage (german/English) bundles the concepts and seminar plans and makes them publicly accessible and usable under the creative-commons licenses OER.Further training for regular teaching staff, as well as support educators and youth workers with the results of the project can be included in the AHS training catalogue and offered there both annually and tailor-made for institutional enquiries. This also applies to enquiries from the Greater Region and the Euregio Maas-Rhine, as well as from the partner countries of the project. A constant exchange and revision of the module is to be achieved and thus lead to sustainability.3) The three learning activities in the project are expected to achieve different results: Within the framework of the learning workshop of the project partners on Digital Youth Participation (C1), employees of the partner organisations working in key positions in the field of youth participation gain in-depth knowledge about the current state of digital youth participation models and tools at European level - on the one hand for the high-quality conception of the project results, on the other hand, in order to be able to advise and support youth workers in their networks in the field of advice and support. In the Blended Mobility with 20 young people (C2), these young people are trained for the first time in the applied curriculum of digital youth participation and in the use of the tools from the seminar box and their feedback is incorporated into the further development of the project results in a value-added way. Finally, 20 professionals (C3) are qualified in Blended Mobility to use the tools and apply the Curriculum of Digital Youth Participation. Their feedback from a practical point of view is also added to the further development of the project results.<< Results >>A transnational implementation concept for the qualification of youth/youth education professionals and volunteers in the field of digital youth participation will be elaborated. The conceptual work will build on existing building blocks in the field of youth employment,digital learning and digital youth participation, which were previously exclusively nationally/regionally oriented.This concept should include the following elements:1. Target group: Who and what is to be achieved and how best to achieve this? The mediation of digital youth participation does not work ""universally"", but must be geared to the target groups of the respective professionals, who deal with young people of different social and cultural backgrounds, different image levels and different possibilities, explicitly with young people from previously underrepresented groups. Diversification of society requires flexible tools for integration work in youth work. The concept must therefore not only take into account known combinations of the above-mentioned socio-cultural divisiveness, but must also integrate pistes for future needs in order to guarantee a high degree of applicability of the concept and to act as long-term qualification offers for the target group.Therefore, it is planned to make the results - teaching materials and concrete examples from the everyday life of the participants - available online with the consent of the participants, so that those seeking advice can look for inspiration in the seminar box based on the examples for their own context. Even after the end of the project, this can be continuously and sustainably expanded after each training course, so that new contexts are continuously integrated.2. (digital) communication strategy: how do youth/youth education professionals reach the (different) target groups in times of digital communication? How are stakeholders involved beyond proven ""offline"" formats? How does the traditional communication strategy need to be renewed in order to maintain contact?A transnational curriculum will be developed to be transferable beyond the borders of the participating countries. The relevant bodies for disseminating didactic material (ministries of education, national educational institutes, etc.) will be informed about the existence of this curriculum and the results of this project will be made available on the Erasmus+ platform."

Promoting democracy, teaching human rights and preventing extremism are of vital importance for a free society and a Europe of open borders. Although these topics should be considered from a national viewpoint, they cannot be adequately shaped using this perspective alone. A European-wide network of populist and right-wing extremists is becoming increasingly more professional as an international anti-multilateral movement. Right and extreme right-wing groups are infiltrating youth groups, communicating with these young people in their own language and genres, and using areas close to borders as places of refuge. Hate speech and fake news are having a huge influence on public opinion – from online outlets to political decision making. Young people with low levels of education and participation as well as poor job prospects are particularly vulnerable to these populist campaigns. They are often not capable of using facts to form their own opinion. So far, there have been virtually no cross-border, multilateral youth education initiatives that deal with, and proactively counter, transregional forms of antidemocratic manifestations. Transnational, non-formal training courses aimed at young people with fewer opportunities are scarce and widely untested.This project aims to alter the current status quo. It is therefore crucial that youth work providers and specialists in this area cooperate across borders and develop novel concepts and formats for non-formal education. These offers must be applicable to young people, both locally and at a transnational level.The central idea is to found a transnational office called “respect!” where youth workers and young people can actively report any episodes to agitate or incite hate. They will receive feedback from qualified staff. “International democracy ambassadors against hate” will support this approach and offer training to young people in order to equip them with the skills necessary to fight this problem effectively and spread pro-democratic awareness within their peer groups.Project partners:The project involves partners from northern Italy, southern Germany, Alsace, Switzerland, and Belgium. Jugendstiftung Baden-Württemberg is responsible for coordinating the project.Structure:Each of the project partners will delegate two members to the steering committee, which will meet twice a year. This committee will set up working groups to develop this concept into actionable steps. Each working group will consist of two youth work specialists from each partner organisation. Switzerland and Infoklick are of considerable significance to this project due to Switzerland’s geographic and cultural proximity to southern Germany, northern Italy and Alsace, as well as the related anti-democratic and extremist networks already referred to. In addition, the project will be further underpinned by the particular quality of Infoklick’s youth education programmes and associated expertise.Objectives:1. A cross-border network of youth education specialists will be established to promote democracy, teach human rights and prevent extremism. A presentation of this concept will be accessible on the project homepage.2. The concept and the technical implementation for a transnational office (“respect! – combating hate on the internet”) are already in place.3. Transnational curricula to train young people to become “international democracy ambassadors against hate” and to provide youth workers with the necessary skills to disseminate this knowledge have been compiled. The first of those youth workers have already been trained to act as multipliers. This is a certified, modular, four- to five-day qualification in democracy. The non-formal youth work education programme is designed to empower young people, particularly those with fewer opportunities, to acquire the skills to take action against any manifestations of hate and incitement. The main focus of the training is on dealing with hate speech and fake news. All participants will be entitled to receive a YouthPass certificate which provides international recognition of non-formal and informal learning achievements.4. The process of defining key terms and clarifying the legal framework has been concluded. The results will be presented in the form of a multilingual online glossary.The project will use the existing youth work structures already present in the partner regions. Operational procedures will be regularly coordinated across practitioners from the partner regions. This allows the developed material, procedures and designs to be used immediately and provides a key foundation for future cross-border cooperation. The project objectives have already been recognised by the partners as both requirements and essential innovations in youth work.