REMAPPING EUROPE: A CASE STUDY IN INTERNATIONAL AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION.

Collaboration across Europe benefits from some key ingredients, which need to be at the root of our working processes. We must cross and indeed break-down borders on many physical and metaphysical levels. Collaboration enhances the ‘spaces in-between’, the intersections between, people, organisations and ideas. In our complicated (but very rich) 21st century, the intersections are not of two spheres converging, but of many – layered, interconnected – and made even more complex by the digital opportunities that envelop us.

Article written by Katherine Watson (director of the European Cultural Foundation) and Vivian Paulissen (Programme Manager of the Youth & Media Programme of the European Cultural Foundation). To be published by Ashgate Publishing Ltd as a chapter from “Migrating Heritage: Networks and Collaborations across European Museums, Libraries and Public Cultural Institutions”. Read the full article here.

Click to download

EXPANDED EDUCATION – THE ENGLISH VERSION

Somewhere between a fork and a spin-off, the notebook Expanded Education – The English Edition compiles a series of materials that revolve around the notion of expanded education and are related to the book that Spanish Doc Next Network hub partner ZEMOS98 published on the subject.

Education has always been one of the core themes of the ZEMOS98 project. Not just any old education, but the kind of education that is inseparably bound up with communication and that connects to and networks with other concepts such as audio-visuals, art and experimentation. Education as an element of on-going personal growth, that is not limited to one particular stage of life. Education as play, a way of unravelling the media theatre. Education as an open source operating system that turns us into critical citizens. Education as a game played by all individuals, from all eras. Education as a utopia for a culture-sharing society. When we talk about expanded education, we are not talking about a new concept or something that has just popped out of the blue.

‘Expanded Education’ invokes an idea, and every organisation, individual or collective can activate or deactivate it as they see fit. In any case, it will be necessary to make a distinction between those who use it with political and/or critical intent, and those who use it as a marketing strategy to attract ‘new audiences’.

Learning to see – click to download

LEARNING TO SEE – THE MANUAL

How is the function of film/photography changing  working methods?; How to use visual tools in a conscious, critical and thoughtful manner?; How to follow the technological change wisely for the sake of promoting social change?; How to apply pictures in social and cultural projects?

Questions like the above made Polish Doc Next hub partner Association of Creative Initiatives “ę” organise a Visual Seminar – an opportunity to meet for persons working with pictures, practices of looking and the contemporary culture in the broad sense: practitioners (animators/educators, authors) and theoreticians (anthropologists, sociologists, researchers) operating within the field of visual culture.

One of the objectives of the Visual Seminar was to reach beyond the habits we follow during our everyday work of animators/ educators/ coordinators. We are often so absorbed in implementing the subsequent steps of our projects, we find it difficult to ask oneself questions not included in grant application forms. We decided to provide some time for reflexion and critical reassessment of our work and methods, the meaning of which is rarely called in question. Learning to see is a report, and at the same time a manual for future seminars.

Doc Next information booklet – click te read on ISSUU

ABOUT DOC NEXT NETWORK BOOKLET

Doc Next Network’s methodology explained, including descriptions of partners and activities.

Doc Next @ IDFA – click to read on ISSUU

DOC NEXT @ IDFA

The partnership of IDFA and ECF is based on a mutual concern for the inclusion of young D-I-Y media talent in public opinion. At IDFA 2012, Doc Next screened personal reflections that portray another Europe. What crisis means to young Greeks, late nightlife in a London launderette, a Turkish girl immigration story and the neighbour who knows everything about everyone in Warsaw… How do they deal with daily life? Which images of Europe do they reveal? The IDFA guide gives credit, shows background and introduces 10 young media makers.

Youth Media Trend Report – click to read on ISSUU

EUROPEAN YOUTH MEDIA TREND REPORT

Young people are attached to their mobile phones… But do they still use landlines? Is online television as popular as ‘regular’ television? What is the most popular games console among today’s young people across Europe? And what are the biggest differences between European countries in terms of how they use media today? The answers to these questions – and more – can be found in the first European-wide Youth Media Trend Report (2011-2011), which was commissioned by the Youth & Media Programme of the European Cultural Foundation (ECF). The extensive research was carried out by the Belgian research centre Trendwolves, which looked at media use among young people aged between 15 and 25 in five European countries: Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and Croatia.

Video Republic – click to read on ISSUU

VIDEO REPUBLIC

It is a messy, alternative realm of video creation and exchange that extends across the internet, television, festivals and campaigns. This report charts the rise of the ‘Video Republic’ across Europe, a new space for debate and expression dominated by young people.

Drawing on extensive research with experts and young people in the UK, Turkey, Germany, Romania and Finland, it argues that the stakes are high, both for the contributors to this realm and for the democracies they live in. Confusion about regulation, copyright and privacy means that young people are plunging headlong into an uncertain set of new relationships online. And around Europe, new types of expressive inequality are emerging as many are held back from participating by poor access and a lack of resources.

As young people experience greater freedoms online, many are choosing to ‘route around’ political and cultural institutions rather than take them on directly. This poses a profound challenge to decision-makers, but it also creates new opportunities. For democracies starved of legitimacy, it offers hope for a new sphere of democratic expression and participation. With a range of recommendations for government, media and the private sector, this report outlines how we can channel the creativity locked inside the Video Republic.