ENGAGE · Encouraging Network Generation’s Accountability and Global Engagement

Encouraging Network Generation’s Accountability and Global Engagement

What is the problem: One of the main challenges facing European society according to the EU Youth Strategy 2010-2018 is to encourage young people to actively participate in society. This is essential, in order to safeguard democratic development and processes that give young people from different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities and genders a say in shaping their own future. It is therefore vital to develop deeper knowledge of how and where this younger, more Internet savvy generation participates in public debate, what different political and social views are being expressed and what kinds of new forms of political and civic actions are being taken. We need more insight into- and knowledge of the practices that take place on social media, specifically through image sharing within what can be identified as an emergent visual digital media public. Impact society: Young people represent the individuals who will form the core of our future society. Consequently, exploring the perspectives young people have on Europe and to better understand how they engage in shaping its future is crucial for the long-term success of the European project. The project addressed young people’s digital practices and online participation in society as a valuable knowledge area for future democratic processes and participation, focused on understanding and mitigating new forms of political and civic engagement within the digital visual cultures and social network societies that young people from Norway and the United Kingdom are a part of. The new and deep insight from this project has significant value to policy makers, youth-organizations, NGOs, practitioners and educators who need to better understand how young people can be involved in future societal frameworks and politics. Overall objectives: It is vital to develop better knowledge of how and where the young, Internet savvy generation participates in public debate, what different political and social views are being expressed and what kinds of new forms of political and civic actions are being taken. The ENGAGE project takes up this challenge within Europe through an innovative and comparative research design and by concentrating on developing knowledge based on young people’s user-experiences and digital visual practices within two different European cities: Sheffield (UK) and Oslo (Norway).

Data: CORDIS, © European Union