With the digitalisation of our society, the democratic participation is also increasingly based on the use of digital tools. This important role of ICT in the democratic and social participation has led to the concept of “digital citizenship”. However, data show that there is a digital gap because while young people, considered “digital natives”, are able to use ICT, they do not use them critically and they do not use them to promote their democratic and social participation. The project is aiming to improve this situation through the use of the cyberanimation approach which consists of updating and adapting the educational practices of sociocultural animation to the new paradigms generated by the Information Society Technologies.
The project is aiming to develop a methodology, based on cyberanimation, that will use the approach in order to address all the relevant issues related with the digital citizenship skills of the young people. On the basis of this methodology, it is going to organise online training of youth workers. The online course will address youth workers all over Europe. After each training, the youth workers are going to implement the skills acquired and organise activities with young people. Also, cybercommunities are going to be organised online and there are going to be organised activities (such as the socio-influencer hub) where young people are going to create online campaigns for social issues that influence their lives. These youth communities and groups are going to be linked with each other through the development of an online platform which will allow young people from all over Europe to see how other groups have organised activities that promote their democratic participation, share expertise and plan common initiatives. The project will organise a final training event for stakeholders in order to multiply the practice and policy recommendations.