The Project

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 is 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 will be fine tuned after the staff from the participating organisations will take part in a training in Croatia on topics related to social media.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants in the the transnational training will be 25 adults, 5 for each partner of the project. The project will involve 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 will benefit from the training as well. Also, specific professional trainers will be individuated and get involved particularly during the transnational training.

ACTIVITIES

the main activities in the project will include the participation of staff from the participating organisations in an international training event in Croatia, which will constitute the basis for the development of a toolkit, which will be later applied at local level during workshops organised by each participating organisation.

METHODOLOGY

The toolkit will be 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 idetity 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 will have an impact on the participants who will acquire 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 will learn how to use social media to promote social inclusion and local cohesion; they will also improve 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 will also be better prepared to connect with the society’s and the community’s needs and responding to them by developing effective project ideas.