Discussion topics

On the last day of the INCLUSO conference the 5 projects within this FP7 Call will jointly present a Research and Policy Note to the European Commission. This note combines the views of the 5 projects on further research to be done and policies to be established on international and local levels.

A draft version of this Research and Policy Note is already available for download. Changes to this note may occur, depending on your inputs and the discussions raised at the INCLUSO conference.

During this session, you will have the chance to raise your own questions, concerns or opinions on the issue of using ICT to facilitate the social inclusion of marginalised young people.
In order to jumpstart this discussion we would like to invite you to give your opinion on the following statements.

These statements are meant to fuel the discussion, but do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the 5 projects within this call or the European Commission. We are very much looking forward looking forward to your contribution and hope to meet you at the conference!

Extending the work of intermediary organisations working with marginalised young people to social networking sites and other social media brings nothing but benefits to the youngsters involved.
Discussion topic

What is your opinion on this bold statement? If you agree, tell us more about what you see as the benefits to the youngsters involved. If you do not agree, then tell us what you see as downsides or risks of using social media to extend the work of organisations working with marginalised young people.

For the kind of interactions intermediary organisations want to have with young people online, most social media tools today sufficiently take into account the security and privacy of the youngsters involved.
Discussion topic

What is your opinion on this statement? Are most tools just fine the way they are to support the work of intermediary organisations working with marginalised young people? If not, what restrictions do current tools have and why? Can you suggest possible solutions to these restrictions?

Current legislation and policies regarding the online privacy and security of marginalised young people today are sufficiently up-to-date with the reality of today's information age.
Discussion topic

What is your opinion on this statement? Are marginalised young people sufficiently protected by legislation with regards to their online activities today or is there a need for improvement in this area? How is the situation in your own country? Where can improvements be made? 

Intermediary organisations working with young people are in need of new tools and methods to measure the success of their online work.
Discussion topic

What is your opinion on this statement? Does your organisation measure the success of its use of ICT and social media to support its work? If so, how? Are these methods working for you? Does your organisation experience a need for better measurement tools to evaluate its investments in the use of ICT to extend its work online?

Instead of developing their own specialised ICT tools, intermediary organisations throughout Europe would benefit from international initiatives aimed at developing such tools collaboratively.
Discussion topic

What is your opinion on this statement? Would intermediary organisations be better off developing their own tools, specific to their own activities? Or are there benefits in joint initiatives? Who should take the initiative for setting up such collaborations? Would such tools need to be released with an open source license so that everyone can freely use and adapt them?

Giving marginalised young people access to internet enabled computers is not enough. More actions need to be taken to ensure that youngsters are better aware of how they can use ICT for their own benefit and be motivated to do so.
Discussion topic

What is your opinion on this statement? Are today's youngsters sufficiently in touch with technology to learn how to use ICT tools for their own benefit by themselves? If not, who's role is it to make sure they do learn? 

Training youth and social workers on how to use ICT tools to support their work with marginalised young people should be institutionalised within intermediary organisations.
Discussion topic

What is your opinion on this statement? Can youth and social workers keep themselves up-to-date on how to use ICT tools or should their training be institutionalised somehow? How is this being done at your organisation? Do you see a role laid out here for higher education institutions here as well?