Juha Kiviniemi's presentation on Verke and digital youth work at the international program of Allianssi cruise 2018.

1. Verke - Centre for Expertise
on Digital Youth Work
Juha Kiviniemi

2. ”If youth work fails to embrace the
use of technology and social media
there is a risk of becoming
outdated and irrelevant to young
people who use youth work
services. ”
- Youth Worker, Scotland

3. “Youth work values are what’s
most important, and then we build
the technology around that:
It’s less about building technical
skills and more about being a tool
to express themselves.”
- Youth Worker, Northern Ireland

4. What is Verke?
• National Centre for expertise on
Digital youth work
• Founded in 2011
• Funded by the Ministry of
Education and Culture,
administrated by City of Helsinki
Youth Department
• Six full time employees

5. Our long term goals
• Knowledge and competences on how to use digital media and
technology in youth work will increase
• The structures of youth work will support the use of digital media
and technology in youth work
• Innovative services and concepts will be created in the field of
youth work, using digital media and technology

6. What we do:
• Train and consult (2500 YW Reached)
• Produce materials
• Share information
• Bi-annual survey
• Build bridges
• Help to innovate new solutions

7. Forms of training youth work professionals
• As part of development partnerships
(formerly VerkeFactori)
• SomeCamp - 2-3 day event once a year
• Distanssi online courses (MOOCs)
• Sessions as part of larger training
events
• Erasmus+ trainings
• Single training sessions as needed

8. Material production & information sharing
• Recently produced: Youth work
throws a lan party, Towards
digital youth work, Digital
youth work: a Finnish
perspective
• Blog, podcast(s), social media,
good practice collection,
newsletter (~1200 subscribers)

9. Focus points at the moment
• Digital media and technology
should be seen as medium,
activity and content in youth
work
• Maker culture & technology
education
• Strategic development

10. The diversity of digitality in youth work
Digital Youth Work
Digital Services
Digital Solutions
Digital Infrastructure

11. www.verke.org

12. Digitalization is not
something in the future.
It is happening now.

13. The ownership of information
has irrevocably changed.

14. Young peoples methods, intensity and
speed of social communication are radically
different from our own.

15. Young people do not
”go online”.

16. How can youth work adapt?

17. Commonly raised topics
• Does every youth worker have to do digital youth work?
• What should the focus of digital youth work be?
• Media literacy?
• Communication?
• Does it need a separate focus?
• Professional ethics and separation of private life in digital youth work

18. Past, current and future
international projects

19. International projects
• Makerspaces in digital youth work @ Luxembourg (06/2017)
• Digital youth work conference @ Wien, Austria (11/2017)
• Strategies for digital youth work @ Finland (02/2018)
• “Developing digital youth work” @ Budapest, Hungary (03/2018)

20. International projects
• Symposium on inclusion and digitalisation @ Tallinn (06/2018)
• Book together with Estonia on smart / digital youth work (2018)
• Book on maker methods (2018)
• Youth work training project with 5 partners (2018-2019)
• Study visit to finland, study visit to Ireland (2018)

21. European level policy
• Expert group on youth and digitalisation (2017)
• Council conclusions on smart youth work (2017)

22. Practical examples

23. Vlogs by youth workers

24. Storytelling with digital platforms (DIG-IT up!)

25. Fisucraft, a Minecraft -server run by a local parish in Finland

29. Exploring Senses (Brighton, UK)

30. Thank you!
Juha Kiviniemi
juha.kiviniemi@verke.org
Tel. +358 40 1835 264
Twitter: @puikko
Instagram: @humanistimotoristi
Verke
Tel. +358 9 310 89067
info@verke.org
Twitter: @VerkeOrg