The aim of the project is to develop a strategy for the implementation of active media work by and for people who are affected by social exclusion. The prerequisite for this is a comprehensive educational process for those who work in participatory media. The project is scheduled to last 30 months and 6 partners will take part. Teleduca in Barcelona, the Fédération de l’audiovisuel participatif with around 40 members in France and the Open Channel in Magdeburg belong to the so-called community media sector; the Filmforum in Warsaw is a participatory media project center. “Community media” as a form of civil society media create publicity for people and their concerns and thus serve the participation of individuals and social groups. In 2008 and 2009, the EU Parliament and the Council of Ministers declared community media to be an important part of a democratic media system and challenged the member states to ensure that they were strengthened. Two universities are also involved: the University of Santiago de Compostella is researching communication in socially unequal communities with the project CIDACOM and the University of Sibiu is represented with the Department of Social Sciences / Journalism and here especially with the focus on “social journalism”. Teleduca, the USC, the Fédération and The Open Channel were already active in the strategic partnership “Media Fellow” - new in the partnership are the Filmforum and the University of Sibiu. A total of 78 employees from the partner organizations take part in a total of six project meetings and four 5-day learning activities. Together, they develop and test further training courses for media educators that aim to strengthen and expand their skills. The main goal is the exchange and development of tools and methods aimed at a stronger and sustainable opening of the institutions involved to social groups affected by exclusion (intercultural opening). As an indirect target group of the project, they should use media for their own interests and become subjects of reporting. For the project, this means an exchange on the following points: What influence do the media have on exclusion or inclusion processes in the individual partner countries? This is associated with the reflection of your own requirements and your own work: where are the barriers and obstacles? The aim is to develop awareness of mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination in the media and to develop a closer relationship with local communities affected by exclusion. The aim is to develop and strengthen competencies in the area of inclusive media education: exchange about methods of media competence transfer in media work with marginalized, vulnerable groups. Since all partners involved come from the media sector, extensive public relations work is planned for the project. In addition to a project website, audiovisual training material is also being created, which will be disseminated through the partner's specific channels and can be used by the partner's networks at local, national and European level as well as by any other interested public.
The main objective is to develop, in and with the institutions involved in the project, a strategy for implementing participatory media work by and for people affected by social exclusion. The sub-objectives were: 1. sensitization: to create awareness of the role of audiovisual media, especially in the exclusion and stereotyping of social groups. 2. reflection on one's own institution and its work on access barriers. 3. qualification in media literacy: exchange and development of tools and methods to promote social inclusion. 4. dissemination: joint development and production of (didactic) materials that facilitate the community media space. 5. strengthening of comunity media at European level.
Although participatory media are already very far along in actively involving vulnerable groups and communities and supporting them in making their own concerns public, we repeatedly identify the following deficits: - Lack of diversity: vulnerable groups are underrepresented as actors and producers in alternative media. - Lack of problem awareness: Even in participatory media, there is a lack of problem awareness and willingness to acknowledge forms of exclusion and discrimination. There is a lack of knowledge and reflection about exclusion mechanisms and disadvantaging structures. There is also too little reflection on the technical, linguistic and content-related barriers in participatory media organizations. - Lack of pedagogical competence: There is a lack of methodological competence in addressing vulnerable groups.