CONTEXT/BACKGROUND The project rotates around the concept and perception of good and bad use of “social media” and the impact they have in nowadays society in relation to the perception of migrants in local communities and the instrumentalisation of the so called “refugee crisis” by right wing groups to destabilize democracy and community cohesion. OBJECTIVES The main objectives of the project was to gather the experience of the participating organisations in topics related to migrants and refugee issues, and the use of social media, and create a toolkit directed at practitioners, educators, trainers, migrants who work as cultural mediators, translators and/or other roles in reception centres, local communities, community leaders and authorities. The aim of the toolkit is to give a detailed picture on the power of social media in defining who we are, who we like, what we fear and in destabilize and/or increase social cohesion depending on the use we do of them. The toolkit was fine tuned after the staff from the participating organisations took part in a training in Croatia on topics related to social media. PARTICIPANTS Participants in the the transnational training were 25 adults, 5 for each partner of the project. The project involved many more participants through local activities (at least 2 per each partner country with minimum 10 participants per event) and dissemination events and will include educators, mentors, policy makers, community leaders, migrants and relevant actors or stakeholders involved in civil societies, reception programmes, adult education and so on , since they benefited from the training as well. Also, specific professional trainers were individuated and got involved particularly during the transnational training. ACTIVITIES the main activities in the project included the participation of staff from the participating organisations in an international training event in Croatia, which constituted the basis for the development of a toolkit, which were later applied at local level during workshops organised by each participating organisation. METHODOLOGY The toolkit was developed with the contribution from all partners and will include the following topics: - influence of social media on the perception of migrants in society , including its political and social role on a global scale. - secondly, we will address digital identity and in specific we will look at how to set-up a correct digital identity with proper balance, selection of contents and the interlocutors, depending on the platform used. Digital identity and personal branding. Rights and duties on the Internet. Recognising fake profiles and protecting ourselves against fraudsters. Recognising trolls, provocateurs and exhibitionists - Digital Dangers. How to navigate online in order to avoid harming others as well as protect others and ourselves from deliberate online attacks. Other forms of danger online: cyberbullying, cyberstalking, sexting, sextortion, grooming, phishing, etc. Fake news and disinformation as a form of cyber warfare. How migrants have been used by extremists to pursue their political, social and economic goals - Discrimination on social media, and will propose ways in which to deal with online hate speech or trolls. We will also consider how politicians, celebrities, and employers should behave online in order to prevent discrimination. Finally, we will look at different ways in which vulnerable groups (with a special in-depth on migrants) can face discrimination online. - How to use social media in positive and constructive ways such us: social media, cultural heritage and inclusion: how they can work together to build up a better and more inclusive society. IMPACT AND LONG TERM BENEFITS The project have an impact on the participants who acquired new knowledge and skills for improving their competencies in how to defend themselves once using social medias, how to recognize fake news and what actions to take to stop them. At the same time they learnt how to use social media to promote social inclusion and local cohesion; they also improved their competencies in supporting support the final target group (adult migrants and hosting local communities) in living together without fears and conflicts and understanding their needs while trying to settle in the new communities, and properly using different digital tools for successfully fighting stereotypes, fake news and discrimination including gender discrimination. The participating organisations are also better prepared to connect with the society’s and the community’s needs and responding to them by developing effective project ideas.
The main objectives of the project were to gather the experience and expertise of the participating organisations in topics related to the use of social media, and their effect on the individual, society, and vulnerable groups such as migrants and refugees. Through this, we achieved our aim of creating a toolkit directed at practitioners, educators, trainers, migrants who work as cultural mediators, translators and/or other roles in reception centres, local communities, community leaders and authorities. The aim of the toolkit was to give a detailed picture on the power of social media in defining who we are, who we like, what we fear and how it can destabilize and/or increase social cohesion depending on its use. This was also put in practice through two online trainings, which achieved the aim of having a direct effect on participants from partner countries. We improved their skills, raised awareness, shared experiences and used their feedback to ensure that our toolkit fulfilled the project objectives. Our toolkit covered the main topics of our project: Social (media) education and digital divides, The digital identity, Digital dangers, Online perceptions and discrimination, Social media, cultural heritage and social inclusion.
We applied for this project after recognising the critical need to improve media literacy skills, to promote the good use of social media, to raise awareness of the huge number of digital dangers, to demonstrate how migrants, refugees and other vulnerable groups can be significantly affected by social media, and how to construct a safe and inclusive digital identity. Our project was born after seen the danger that improper use of social media can pose to both communities and to democracy itself. Moreover, our project coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, where many of these issues were felt even more acutely, and the need for our project was intensified, as global problems such as fake news, disinformation, online fraud, digital divides and other online dangers increased dramatically. It is important to teach educators practical online skills, and raise awareness of phenomena such as filter bubbles and algorithms. We also looked at how to use social media in positive and constructive ways such us social media, cultural heritage and inclusion to build up a better and more inclusive society. The success of our project demonstrates that we have addressed global needs which are felt significantly on an international scale.
CONTEXT/BACKGROUND The project rotates around the concept and perception of good and bad use of “social media” and the impact they have in nowadays society in relation to the perception of migrants in local communities and the instrumentalisation of the so called “refugee crisis” by right wing groups to destabilize democracy and community cohesion. OBJECTIVES The main objectives of the project was to gather the experience of the participating organisations in topics related to migrants and refugee issues, and the use of social media, and create a toolkit directed at practitioners, educators, trainers, migrants who work as cultural mediators, translators and/or other roles in reception centres, local communities, community leaders and authorities. The aim of the toolkit is to give a detailed picture on the power of social media in defining who we are, who we like, what we fear and in destabilize and/or increase social cohesion depending on the use we do of them. The toolkit was fine tuned after the staff from the participating organisations took part in a training in Croatia on topics related to social media. PARTICIPANTS Participants in the the transnational training were 25 adults, 5 for each partner of the project. The project involved many more participants through local activities (at least 2 per each partner country with minimum 10 participants per event) and dissemination events and will include educators, mentors, policy makers, community leaders, migrants and relevant actors or stakeholders involved in civil societies, reception programmes, adult education and so on , since they benefited from the training as well. Also, specific professional trainers were individuated and got involved particularly during the transnational training. ACTIVITIES the main activities in the project included the participation of staff from the participating organisations in an international training event in Croatia, which constituted the basis for the development of a toolkit, which were later applied at local level during workshops organised by each participating organisation. METHODOLOGY The toolkit was developed with the contribution from all partners and will include the following topics: - influence of social media on the perception of migrants in society , including its political and social role on a global scale. - secondly, we will address digital identity and in specific we will look at how to set-up a correct digital identity with proper balance, selection of contents and the interlocutors, depending on the platform used. Digital identity and personal branding. Rights and duties on the Internet. Recognising fake profiles and protecting ourselves against fraudsters. Recognising trolls, provocateurs and exhibitionists - Digital Dangers. How to navigate online in order to avoid harming others as well as protect others and ourselves from deliberate online attacks. Other forms of danger online: cyberbullying, cyberstalking, sexting, sextortion, grooming, phishing, etc. Fake news and disinformation as a form of cyber warfare. How migrants have been used by extremists to pursue their political, social and economic goals - Discrimination on social media, and will propose ways in which to deal with online hate speech or trolls. We will also consider how politicians, celebrities, and employers should behave online in order to prevent discrimination. Finally, we will look at different ways in which vulnerable groups (with a special in-depth on migrants) can face discrimination online. - How to use social media in positive and constructive ways such us: social media, cultural heritage and inclusion: how they can work together to build up a better and more inclusive society. IMPACT AND LONG TERM BENEFITS The project have an impact on the participants who acquired new knowledge and skills for improving their competencies in how to defend themselves once using social medias, how to recognize fake news and what actions to take to stop them. At the same time they learnt how to use social media to promote social inclusion and local cohesion; they also improved their competencies in supporting support the final target group (adult migrants and hosting local communities) in living together without fears and conflicts and understanding their needs while trying to settle in the new communities, and properly using different digital tools for successfully fighting stereotypes, fake news and discrimination including gender discrimination. The participating organisations are also better prepared to connect with the society’s and the community’s needs and responding to them by developing effective project ideas.