Online Mobile Communities to facilitate the Social.. (ComeIn)
Online Mobile Communities to facilitate the Social Inclusion of young marginalised people
(ComeIn)
Start date: Sep 1, 2008,
End date: Oct 31, 2010
PROJECT
FINISHED
Young people are assets to development and potential agents of social change, yet youth exclusion is widespread and increasing across Europe. Such exclusion translates to unbearable costs both to the individual, being deprived of access to important assets, and to society, having to finance the burden of marginalised groups instead of benefiting from their productive potential.Through the concept of online communities, ICT has the potential to serve as a gateway to social inclusion. However, computer and internet access of marginalised young people are limited, raising the need to develop alternative methods to approach them through ICT.The main objective of ComeIn is to study and utilise mobile networks and telephones that are most commonly used by marginalised youth, as the main infrastructure for social inclusion. Using innovative real-time integrated communication video solutions, this project will develop a networked media platform that will give rise to mobile online communities, delivering interactive media content specifically aimed at marginalised youth.This approach combines the benefits of the online community concept with an inclusive approach, realised through the most abundant device used by marginalised youth in Europe – mobile phones.The goals of this exploratory project include:-Provide groups of marginalised youth with ICT based mobile online communities-Design and deliver content aimed to facilitate social inclusion of marginalised youth of various backgrounds-Analyse the impact of ICT and mobile network use by marginalised youth and make recommendations for future researchAbove the technological impact, such a programme will provide young people with knowledge, capabilities, networking and skills which will better their chances of becoming integrated and productive members of the EU.Our team includes communication experts, researchers in social sciences, and organisations that specialise in working with maginalised youth.
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