Finnis Project Descriptions

KEYNOTES:

Tapio Varis
Professor Tapio Varis will give a lecture on "European approach to media literacy".

Sonja Kangas
Sonja Kangas will present the gaming culture as well as phenomenon’s in the gaming culture associated to media education and youth work. What does the future look like for games and which phenomenon’s grab attention in Finland?

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WORKING GROUPS:

Marko Fors: Police profile on IRC galleria
For the past 13 months Marko has been working on the most popular social networking site amongst youth in Finland, www.irc-galleria.net. Marko has a visible police profile on the site and the profile offers youngsters the opportunity to approach the police in new and easy ways, in their own way. The profiles main role is to do preventive police work: teach, advice and enlighten youth about police related issues. The profile takes part in conversations on the sites different communities and receives tips every week of different types of crimes

Mika Mustikkamäki: Tampere City Library and media practices
Tampere city library is engaged in a multipartite, ESF-funded project that roughly translates into "Spaces and Contents of Information Society". There's a media literacy working group within the project that looks specifically into the ways that public libraries advance media education. Tampere city library is developing new ways of improving people's media literacy skills, having both the adolescent and adult population in mind. In addition they are mapping the best practices of media education cases in libraries to further improve the work in the field.

Suvi Tuominen: Mannerheim League of Child Welfare’s peer support system in Finland
Peer education: how youth can teach each other media skills both offline and online. The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare coordinates peer support system in Finland. Every year approximately 14 000 pupils of age 14-16 are trained to tell younger pupils about drugs, bullying and media skills, for example. In addition, we have trained about 40 online peer students, who organize 2-3 chats in IRC-Galleria every month.

Ismo Kiesiläinen: The Youth Voice Editorial Board
The Youth Voice Editorial Board is a youth participation and media education for young people willing to influence and change the youth's image in media. The Youth Voice Editorial Board works as a news agency delivering material and stories to different media. The aim of this pioneer project is to get young people to produce media content into the mainstream media. The project activates and enables young people to have public discussions and debates with other people, experts and politicians in media topical issues important to them. The teens are trained to write articles and produce TV programs with the help of professional and leading journalists.

The idea of the Youth Voice Editorial Board originated in Youth's Open Forums in Helsinki in 2005. The Open Forums are discussion arenas for young people and politicians of the city of Helsinki organized by The Voice of the Young in Helsinki- campaign. In 2005 the theme of the Open Forums was media critic 'TV-me and virtual you - critically about media'. The young criticized the tiny visibility they have in mainstream media respect to the other age-groups and matters concerning them.

Helsinki city Youth Department established, together with an active group of young people, a planning group that worked for to make it possible to run a youth editorial board. The Youth Voice project started in the autumn 2006 and it collaborates with YLE (Finland's national public service broadcasting company), Helsingin Sanomat (the biggest newspaper in Finland) and Dynamoid OY (the enterprise that owns IRC-galleria). The project is a part of The Voice of the Young -campaign, a joint youth participation project of the Helsinki City Education and Youth Department that develops democratic operational culture at schools and youth work. The Editorial Board gets its financing from Youth Department, Helsingin Sanomat Foundation and Ministry of Education.

The activities of the Youth Editorial Board are various: the board members produce TV programs for YLE, write articles for Helsingin Sanomat and produce also surveys in IRG-galleria (a huge web based community which has 400,000 active users) about issues concerning the whole society. The subject of the programs have been youth's mental health and depression, the lack of politics at Finnish schools and youth's heavy drinking habits.

The Youth Voice Editorial Board consists of 50 media and activists, between 14-20-year old, which are all different personalities, and have various and also contradictory opinions about the society. The desire to make a difference is what brings these teens together in the field of media. The YVEB tries not to show the opinions of a small isolated group, but bring up the opinions of Finland's youth. When in the working phase, editorial board divides its members to several different small groups which all work on their own fields of media e.g. Internet and television. Still major decisions concerning The Youth Voice Editorial Board are made together, by the members themselves.
The strength of this pioneer project is that it combines the desire to influence the society with media education and activate participation in an all new way. The Youth Voice Editorial Board provides its members, with all the training, experience and possibilities, to form a network of young activists which can make a difference now and tomorrow.

Anu Ruhala: Metka projects & methods

1. Supporting the identity of adolescent immigrants

Media Education Center Metka working in Myrsky- (Storm) project
Media Education Center Metka has been involved in Finnish Culture Foundation’s nationwide major project Myrsky that runs from 2008 to 2011. Myrsky – project aims to support adolescent aged 13 to 17 who are at the risk of exclusion by having a positive impact on their wellbeing and the process of maturation. This project aspires to offer meaningful activity and new content to life using the means of art and other cultural aspects supervised by professional artists.

The core idea of Myrsky-project is tangible hands-on activity. Adolescent are working and creating themselves while professional artists are supporting them through the process. The goal is to give adolescents encouraging examples, hands-on activities and through these to offer experience of being successful.

The project aims to reach those adolescent that has not been reached by traditional means and who at the risk of alienation.
Adolescent that belong to this risk group are for example:
• Adolescent who have in their own life or in their vicinity intoxicant addiction,
mental health problems, abuse or criminal activity
• Those who are victims of harassment at school and/or are extremely shy or
socially withdrawn
• Adolescent who belong to a minority, are disabled or have special needs
• Immigrants
• Those who are living in custody

In some case the whole community or part of country is at risk of exclusion.

”The Story of Me”-project as a part of rehabilitation of immigrant adolescent
”The Story of Me” –project offers a possibility to tell and experience stories. The crucial point is to offer a change to review one’s own culture and identity by the means of for example drama. It also aims to give an opportunity of self expression within own environment through media. The project offers a change to learn and practice skills of information gathering and through this process becoming an active member of community, who is able to have an impact of the society.
The plan is as well to bring film education as one of the methods of rehabilitation of immigrant adolescents. The core idea are the needs and thought of adolescents. These adolescents plan and produce their own stories to film while the tutors act in the role of the mentor

Digital Story Telling
Digital Story Telling –method is one of best digital learning methods at nowadays. In that method the aim is produce short audiovisual stories about your own life. Working in groups is the simplest and best way to do digital stories. The original aim has been that in working groups combines both art and own stories. The main idea is also that young people can tell their own stories to other young people and share their own ideas and thoughts with other people by variegated methods. That Digital Story Telling- method is based on still-pictures, multipliers voice or music.

The main aims are to get value to young peoples’ stories, young immigrants can get successful experiences, authorizes young immigrants self-worth and improve their media literacy.
The idea is tell and share your own stories with other people. In that method you start with script and pictures then you choose some foolproof and easily available edit program for example Movie Maker or iMovie.

The habits and instruments of The Story of Me – project
Media Education Center Metka has produced own Metkula - environment to audiovisual storytelling. You can find that from Metka`s homepage (www.mediametka.fi). Metkula is one of best environments with immigrants, because you do not need use language when you are doing your stories.
In that project we use several methods and instruments. For example Digital Story Telling, video diary, documentation, animation, voice-expression, drama pedagogy, Metkula.

Anniina Lundvall: Media education for parents - best practises
Different cases and methods from Finland