Given the scale of digital exclusion in Europe, three social organizations - Emmaüs Connect, Liberittutti and Emmaüs Satu Mare - have joined forces to share their expertise and skills, with the following objectives: - Improve understanding of the digital barriers encountered by vulnerable groups and social professionals through a study in Romania and Italy; - Share field experiences between social organizations to improve digital inclusion knowledge and practices; - Design and test training courses for social workers to help them enhance the digital skills of their target groups; - Create content that can be easily accessed and disseminated to all social sector across the European Union; In the long term, the aim is to improve the social and professional integration of the most excluded, by facilitating high-quality digital training.
Today, digital technology is an essential tool, used daily in both the private and professional worlds. Nevertheless, in the European Union, only 54% of the population have basic digital skills, and 14% have none at all (DESI, 2022). To ensure that no one is left behind by the digital transition, we need to strengthen support for vulnerable groups, who are particularly affected by digital exclusion. Social workers are also impacted by digital technology, which is transforming their professional practices and creating new challenges for the people they support. Social workers need tools, resources and skills to better support them. Through this project, we aim to better train social workers to understand the digital inclusion issues and to take action against digital divide by using adapted tools and practices in their own countries.