Building Media Competence

Community Radio in the Youth Field - so der Titel eines bilateralen Projekts von Radio FRO und dem Arka Youth Centre in Shkodra, Albanien.

Ein Freies Radio von und für die Jugendlichen in Shkodra! Im Oktober 2016 starten wir ein Austauschprojekt mit dem Jugendzentrum ARKA in Shkodra, Albanien. Ein Youth mobility-Projekt im Rahmen des EU-Programms Erasmus+. 

Project summary:

The Arka Youth Centre in Shkodra is a meeting point for young people between the age of 16-30 who often experience despair because of the lack of professional perspectives due to the economic and political situation in Albania. ARKA hosts jam sessions, exhibitions, readings as well as tutorials for employment opportunities, innovation and business plans. There are more than 30 young volunteers working at ARKA.
They want to build up a community radio station in their town. This is why they came up to Radio FRO in order to get more information about how to run a community radio station. Radio FRO is of course eager to support the development of community radio in Shkodra, as we are convinced that a radio made by citizens is an ideal tool for participation and democratization in Europe. We are able to share our expertise with the young people and Youth workers at ARKA, and also widen our horizons and learn more about the realities and activities at a Youth Centre in North Albania, as Arka aims to enhance social and economic conditions in Shkodra, promoting employment opportunities for young people, civil society development and access to media.

With this project, we want to set up a starting point for a future cooperation project between Radio FRO, the ARKA Youth Centre (CODE partners) and also the HTL Shkodra (Shkolle Austriake) who is currently about to develop a media branch at their school.
Youth and media workers of Radio FRO and ARKA want to get connected in the framework of this Youth mobility project in order to share and exchange knowledge, skills and adequate support for building up a community radio as a democratic tool for North Albania.

The project “Community Radio in the Youth Field – Building Media Competence” foresees a Project Preparation Planning Meeting in Shkodra, Albania (four days) and a Job Shadowing in Linz, Austria (four days) in october and november 2016. Respectively three Youth and Media workers will travel to the other city (Linz-Shkodra) in order to get connected with the mutual communities and meet Youth, students, volunteers, radio broadcasters.

The main objectives and issues of this project are: sharing and exchanging knowledge about community radio in the Youth field, open access, ICT, citizen journalism and the values of freedom of speech expression. Preparing the ground for a future cooperation project, analysing the feasibility and needs for implementing a follow-up project. Launching a needs assessment regarding technical equipment for a radio studio. Acknowledging radio as a way for Youth to participate, reflect their realities and act: by taking the media in their own hands and establishing radio as a learning tool and a means for diversifying society while exchanging radio programs and broadcast radio shows produced by Albanian Youth in the radio program at Radio FRO 105.0 in Linz. Implementing educational methods and training tools for building media competence among Youth and raising awareness about different situations and perspectives of Youth in Europe, drawing attention to the fact that radio is a tool for active citizenship and for a diverse society against racism.

Media competence is a key competence tool for future employment of the Youth, it also raises mutual awareness about the political situation in Albania and Austria and establishes a link between Linz and Shkodra via constant cooperation through the means of radio. Furthermore it puts the work of Radio FRO in a European context. Establishing and supporting media literacy by means of radio work, learning from the 18 years experience of Radio FRO who has helped to build various radio stations, many of the objectives mentioned above are also true for the Albanian side of the project whereas eventually the entire endeavour serves one common goal: to spread diversity and anti-racism through media in the hope of supporting a down-trodden society in a highly challenged European area.

Zuletzt geändert am 30.08.16, 00:00 Uhr

Verfasst von Veronika Moser

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