Presentation of Verke and digital youth work in the EU youth conference in Helsinki on July 2nd, 2019

1. Verke - Developing digital
youth work in Finland
Juha Kiviniemi, Verke
www.verke.org
EUYC, Helsinki 2.7.2019

2. https://www.slideshare.net/verkeorg

3. • What is Verke?
• What is Digital youth
work?
• Examples from the field
In this session

4. Round of introductions

5. 0. Why?

6. ”Young people are increasingly engaging with new
technologies and digital media. There is clearly a role
for online youth work practice, in terms of exploiting a
new space for youth work in a meaningful way,
supporting digital literacy and enabling young people
to deal with some of the associated risks. The practice
implications for youth workers lie in new
competencies required and new forms of boundary
maintenance in relationships with young people.”
(Declaration of the 2nd European Youth Work
Convention, Brussels, April 2015)

7. European Union Work Plan for Youth 2016–2018
Youth work and cross-sectorial cooperation shall be strengthened with the following aims, in line
with the priorities agreed in the joint EU Youth Report 2015:
A. Increased social inclusion of all young people, taking into account the underlying European values;
B. Stronger participation of all young people in democratic and civic life in Europe;
C. Easier transition of young people from youth to adulthood, in particular the integration into the
labour market;
D. Support to young people's health and well-being, including mental health;
E. Contribution to addressing the challenges and opportunities of the digital era for youth
policy, youth work and young people;
F. Contribution to responding to the opportunities and challenges raised by the increasing numbers
of young migrants and refugees in the European Union.

8. EU YOUTH STRATEGY 2019-2027
Youth goals include aspects of digital
inclusion & accessibility, information
literacy, new digital forms of participation

9. 2019: Council conclusions on digital youth
work. Promoting the organisational
development of digital youth work and
competence building.
2020: EU-CoE Partnership - Youth
Knowledge Book & Research on "Social
Inclusion, Digitalisation and Young People"
What’s next?
What’s next?

11. ”If youth work fails to embrace the
use of technology and social media
there is a risk of becoming
outdated and irrelevant to young
people who use youth work
services. ”
- Youth Worker, Screenagers -study
(2016)

12. 1. Verke

13. Verke - National Centre of Expertise for
Digital Youth Work

14. • Operated since 2011 under funding from the
Finnish Ministry of Educationand Culture, first as a
Development centre, then as a Centre for Expertise
in the youth sector since 2018.
• Administrated by the city of Helsinki
• 7 full-time employees, each with their own areas of
focus (see
)
• Target group: youth workers, youth work planning
officers, supervisors and youth work lecturers in
municipalities, NGO’s and parishes

16. CENTRES OF EXPERTISE IN THE YOUTH FIELD
12 Youth work centres of expertise form a network supporting the
implementation of the objectives set out in the National Youth Work
and Youth Policy Programme 2017-2019. The centres are organised
under the following priority areas:
1. Participation of young people
2.Social empowerment of young people
3.Digital youth work and information and counselling services for
young people
4.Improvement of the quality and methods of youth work

17. TASKS FOR CENTRES OF EXPERTISE
• The Ministry of Education and Culture and Education appoints the
centres of expertise for a fixed period to support the implementation of
of the objectives set out in
• The centres of expertise develop and promote competence, expertise
and communications in the youth sector in accordance with the Youth
Act.
• The current funding period for the Centres is 2018-2019
• Further information:

18. Verke’s goals 2018-2019
1. Knowledge of ways of using digital media and technology
will increase and expand in the field of youth work
2. The structures of youth work will support the use of digital
media and technology in youth work
3. Innovative youth work services and concepts using digital
media and technology will be created

19. What does Verke do?
Train professionals:
Last year over 2600 participants
in 14 provinces
Produce materials:
videos, guides, article
publications, podcasts etc.
Consult:
Innovation partnerships,
memberships in steering groups
Facilitate networking:
SomeCamp, Friday chats, other events
Research:
Surveys on digital youth work,
research collaborations
Communicate:
newsletter, blog,
social media, #digi10-challenge

20. Focal points in 2019
New technologies and technology education
• Publication “Maker activities in youth work”
• “What a youth worker should know about..” -video series
Organisational development
• “Innoboksi” -tool to support new kinds of innovation in the field
of Digital youth work
• Publication “Digitalisation and youth work”
• A survey on the state of digital youth work in municipalities
• Surveys on digitalisation in the field of youth and the digital
competencies gained in youth worker training
International co-operation
• Conclusions on digital youth work during the Finnish EU-
presidency
• Erasmus+ strategic partnership project
(www.digitalyouthwork.eu)

21. 2. Digital youth work

22. What is digital youth work?
• Digital youth work means proactively using or addressing
digital media and technology in youth work.
• Digital youth work is not a youth work method – digital youth
work can be included in any youth work setting (open youth
work, youth information and counselling, youth clubs, detached
youth work…).
• Digital youth work has the same goals as youth work in general,
and using digital media and technology in youth work should
always support these goals.
EU Expert group - definition of digital youth work

23. What is digital youth work?
• Digital youth work can happen in face-to-face situations as well
as in online environments – or in a mixture of these two. Digital
media and technology can be used either as a tool, an activity or
a content in youth work.
• Digital youth work is underpinned by the same ethics, values and
principles as youth work.
EU Expert group - definition of digital youth work

25. The diversity of digitality in youth work
Digital Youth Work
Digital Services
Digital Solutions
Digital Infrastructure

26. How does digitalisation affect young people?

27. Digitalization is not
something in the future.
It’s happening now.

28. The ownership of information
has irrevocably changed.

29. Young peoples methods, intensity and
speed of social communication are radically
different from our own.

30. Young people do not
”go online”.

31. Digital skills = citizenship
skills

32. Digital skills = digital life
skills

33. Who are the digital natives?

34. There aren’t any.

35. #punchacolleague
(please don’t actually punch them,
but you have my permission to
gently but firmly correct them)

36. “The idea that someone would know
everything about digital media just because
they have always lived with it is as ridiculous
as the idea of us sleeping in a library and
knowing all the information in the world.”
- Any Pöyskö, WienXtra - medienzentrum

37. Digital divide
(It’s not only about age!)

38. Digital divide
• Access to technology
• Skills to use that technology
• Level of understanding how technology works
• Participation vs. Access to information - who is in control?

39. What does this mean for our field?

40. The diversity of digitality in youth work
Digital Youth Work
Digital Services
Digital Solutions
Digital Infrastructure

41. Can digital technology contribute to inclusion?

42. Better access to activities

43. Better access to
and accessibility of services

44. More data from
and of young people

45. Can digital technology contribute to exclusion?

46. Digital divide
• Access to technology
• Skills to use that technology
• Level of understanding how technology works
• Participation vs. Access to information - who is in control?

47. What if we would plan all our youth
work activities around digital devices?

48. Are we making sure young people have
the necessary skills to participate?

49. Are all young people
participating equally?

50. Who is in control?

51. Digital youth work has the potential to..
..make our services and activities much more inclusive,
in regards to age, skill level, physical limitations,
geographical limitations, socio-economic status etc.

52. But
( and it’s a big “but” )

53. Digital youth work also has the potential to..
..accidentally exclude a number of young people from
our provided services if we make assumptions like
“All young people are digital natives” or “all young
people use social media”.

54. Some of the central challenges
• Identifying the services / activities that can benefit from
digitalisation, or ones that can benefit from complementing digital
approaches
• Capacity building of practitioners to connect digitalisation with
inclusion
• Connecting technologisation of society with inclusion of young
people on a policy level

55. Some of the central challenges
• Using data to identify issues related to social inclusion
• Lowering the threshold of access to technology for young people
while developing their skills
• Tackling social issues in young people’s online environments
• Re-evaluating and adapting all youth work practice wherever
necessary

61. 3. Maker activities

63. “It is about existing youth work goals and
values, and the technology should follow
those.
It’s not so much about learning technology
skills as much as a tool for young people to
express themselves.”
- Youth worker, Northern Ireland
Screenagers -study (2016)

64. Non-formal learning

66. Learning about..
• How technology works
• How technology can be utilised
• How technology can be controlled
• How practical technology skills can be applied
• How technology can be used for participation

67. Practical co-learning

68. mBot

69. By working in a group..
• We learn together, also from each other
• Peer learning is central, because we all have a different skill set
• In a group we don’t all have to know everything (applies to any
and all group activities)
• Often a bigger impact

70. Experimental tinkering

72. Experimental tinkering
• Practical technology education and tinkering can also involve
personal projects
• It pays off to work within the strong principles of sharing and
peer support that are so integral to maker culture
• You don’t need a curriculum or measurable skill goals to start
experimenting

73. Playful and creative

75. This isn’t so serious!
• It pays off to combine practical technology education into existing
youth work activities
• Arts, crafts, workshops, media production..
• Technology education - as all digital youth work approaches - can
be applied in any and all forms of youth work
•

76. Maker culture is changing society

77. Are we offering activities,
equipment or both?

78. Are we building new activities?

79. Are we adding technology
education into existing youth work
“curriculum”?

80. Are we supporting the birth of new
communities and a new kind of
culture?

81. Further resources..

82. verke.org

83. Materials, blog, podcast..

84. Publications

85. digitalyouthwork.eu

87. Thank you!
Juha Kiviniemi
juha@verke.org
Tel. +358 40 1835 264
Twitter: @puikko
Instagram: @humanistimotoristi
Verke
Tel. +358 9 310 89067
Twitter: @VerkeOrg