Juha Kiviniemi's keynote on Digital youth work at the "Children and youth on the net" -seminar in Luxembourg on April 28th, 2017

1. Digital youth work
Juha Kiviniemi
Children and youth on the net
28.4.2017

2. About Verke
• Finnish national development centre for digital youth work
• Funded by the ministry of culture and education
• Vision is to provide everyone who works with young people with the
opportunity to use digital media and technology as part of their work.
• Forms of work include Training and consultancy, Production and
dissemination of information and Development of digital youth work
together with actors in the field
• Read more at https://www.verke.org/?lang=en

3. About me
• Worked in youth work since 2003, permanent position at the city
of Helsinki youth department
• Currently employed at Verke as a planner in charge of
international affairs
• Youth worker, bachelor of social sciences
• Especially interested in the societal aspects of youth work in
regards to cultural ties, citizenship and youth participation &
strategic development of youth work

4. Cover image (c) Josh Kirby

5. TO CHANGE THE FATE OF ONE
INDIVIDUAL IS TO CHANGE THE
WORLD.
-Terry Pratchett, ”Soul Music”

6. Why is Digital youth work
relevant?

7. 50 MILLION
USERS?

8. 38 years
image: www.sxc.hu

9. 13 years
image: www.sxc.hu

11. 4 years

12. 2 years

13. 7 months

14. 19 days

15. Technological growth on
an exponential scale

16. Digitalization is changing society

18. Science for change
Kosovo
http://www.citizenscienceks.org

19. Medical applications

20. Communication now happens
simultaniously with multiple tools

21. Content
production is
now real-time

22. ”Dark Social”
is more prevalent
7 %
9 %
84 %
Dark Social
Facebook
Other social media

23. Potential for
stronger
connections

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

25. The ownership of information
has irrevocably changed.

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

27. Young people do not
”go online”.

28. How can youth work adapt?

29. ”Youth work is always rooted in
the local society.”

30. Cultural & historical context of Digital youth work
• Finnish youth work has been actively developing online youth
work for many years now
• Focus now shifted / shifting towards digital youth work
• Other countries have been more active in developing other digital
tools, e.g. Gaming, makerspaces etc.

31. Youth work in a local framework
• Who are the main actors?
• Cultural / historical / societal differences?
• What is the focus of youth work?
• What is the local legislation concerning / affecting youth work?

32. Digital youth work

33. “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

34. The problem with doing stuff ”technology first”?

35. If people don’t have a
personal stake in the
matter at hand,
crowdsourcing (or
youth participation,
for that matter!) just
doesn’t work.

36. How ICT is used in youth work
Screenagers -study, full international report, 2016.
http://www.youth.ie/sites/youth.ie/files/International%20report%20final.pdf

37. The Screenagers -study
• ”Screenagers: Using ICT, digital and social media in youth work”
was an Erasmus+ funded research project
• 5 European partners (Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland,
Denmark and Austria)
• Coordinated by the National youth council of Ireland
Screenagers -research study, http://www.youth.ie/screenagers (2016)

38. What is digital youth work?
Digital youth work is an emerging term to
describe the area of youth work that uses
digital media and new technology to enhance
outcome focussed youth development.
Screenagers -research study, http://www.youth.ie/screenagers (2016)

39. What is digital youth work?
The term is used to describe work that can
happen in face-to-face situations, social and
group settings as well as in online
environments - or in a mixture of these. It is
relevant to all youth work pedagogies and
can enhance all types of practice.
Screenagers -research study, http://www.youth.ie/screenagers (2016)

40. What is digital youth work?
Digital youth work can be used as a tool for youth
development, facilitated by a physical space or an
online environment. Digital youth work can also be
delivered as an activity and serve as the subject
matter or content in a youth work setting.
Screenagers -research study, http://www.youth.ie/screenagers (2016)

41. What is digital youth work?
Digital youth work should be defined in relation to
youth work goals in general, not as a separate
project with a separate goal.
Screenagers -research study, http://www.youth.ie/screenagers (2016)

42. How ICT is used in youth work
• The most common use for social and digital media in Youth Work
was communication and information purposes with young
people and colleagues.

43. How ICT is used in youth work
• Partners found that usage was often unidimensional in
purpose, and that the fuller, more creative, potential of social
media had not been realised on a wide scale across the youth
sectors.

44. How ICT is used in youth work
• The case studies and information provided during focus groups
illustrate that, where ICT is being used in creative and innovative
ways, it offers a versatile and powerful tool to support youth
work.

45. Most used services in youth work
1. e-mail
2. Organizations own website
3. Facebook and Facebook messenger
4. WhatsApp
5. YouTube

46. Statistics
• 75% of youth workers use social and digital
media in their work daily (EU)
(FIN: 94%)
• 48% of youth workers felt that they lacked
personal competence in digital and social media
(FIN)

47. 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

48. Practical examples

49. Examples of digital youth work could be..
• Added value to face-to-face youth work (e.g. complementing a youth participation process
with online interaction between meetings)
• Building new activities around digital tools (e.g. using a GPS-enabled mobile app for a
competitive outdoor activity, fostering social skills in high-risk youngsters using digital
gaming as a team)
• Producing digital content into social media platforms with a focus on non-formal learning,
media education or empowerment
• Providing a low-threshold help-service for young people in need of guidance and support

50. Practical examples
• CyberHus: A peer-to-peer online question service run by an NGO. Lots of
young people answering questions. (DK)
• Netari: An online youth house originally located in Habbo Hotel, an online
service mainly targeted at pre-teens. Now functions in multiple services
helping young people. Run by an NGO ”Save the children Finland”. (FIN)
• Game development programs and e-sports teams with a focus on group
cohesion. (FIN)

51. Practical examples
• An online “ask a politician” service via video for young people (IRE)
• “Nuorten ääni –toimitus” creates high-quality journalism in
mainstream media (FIN)
• Podcasts are a rising trend, as are vlogs
• Exciting examples of harnessing social media services and tools
(snapchat, action track etc.) can be sporadically found

52. Vlogs by youth workers

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

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

57. http://www.captiongenerator.com/478732/Dimitri-hears-about-the-EU-expert-group

58. Strategic development of digital youth work

59. ”Young people are increasingly engaging with new
technologies and digital media. There is clearly a role
for online youth work practice, in terms of exploiting a
new space for youth work in a meaningful way,
supporting digital literacy and enabling young people
to deal with some of the associated risks. The practice
implications for youth workers lie in new
competencies required and new forms of boundary
maintenance in relationships with young people.”
(Declaration of the 2nd European Youth Work
Convention, Brussels, April 2015)

60. The expert group on youth and digitalization
• A group of experts from almost all member states
• Appointed by the European Commission
• Tasked to formulate youth workers digital competencies
• Is also providing the commission input on policy recommendations
• Will conclude their work in 2017; the next step will be national
implementation

61. What does Digital youth work need?
1. Strategic financial investment
2. Meeting the identified training needs
3. Challenge resistant mind-sets
4. Ensure policy commitment
5. Written guidance for youth workers
Screenagers -study, research findings, 2016.
http://www.youth.ie/sites/youth.ie/files/Infographic_ScreenagersResearch_accessible.pdf

62. What does Digital youth work need?
• Dialogue between practitioners from different local realities
• Dialogue between actors from different fields (youth work,
research, formal education, policy makers etc..)
• Dialogue with different stakeholders
• Involving young people actively on all possible levels

63. A new ”groundhog day”
• There needs to be, indeed, the constant re-invention of the wheel
• We need to establish an ongoing cycle of
research - policy - practice - research - policy refinement - etc.
• How can we make it a more nimble process as not to be lagging
behind so much anymore?

64. Verke’s national guidelines
• Published in late 2016 in Finnish in the book ”Kohti digitaalista
nuorisotyötä”.
• The english translation can be found @ http://verke.org/ as a pdf
• Based on Scottish ”Digitally Agile National Principles” (2014) and
findings from the Screenagers -study
• Are divided into 8 separate principles

65. Guidelines
• The operational culture encourages curiosity and experimentation
• Strategic planning supports long-term development
• A goal-oriented approach and assessment improve the quality of
activities
• Resources are targeted at digital youth work

66. Guidelines
• The skills and competence of the work community are ensured
• Digital youth work is developed through co-operation
• Digital youth work promotes the empowerment and equality of
young people
• Youth work strengthens young people's media skills and digital skills

67. One
more
thing..

68. Upcoming publication from Verke
• Based on Verke's guidelines, our most recent publication as well
as previous articles and some new material
• In english, will be available as a free download or in printed form
• Will be published by the end of 2017
• Please send an e-mail to juha.kiviniemi@verke.org if you want a
copy sent over ”hot off the press”

69. Recommended reading
Screenagers -study report
http://www.youth.ie/screenagers
”Taking youth work to the Digital world” - Seminar report from
Developing Digital Youth Work -seminar in 2016 at Oulu
https://www.verke.org/material/taking-youth-work/?lang=en
Materials in English @ verke.org
https://www.verke.org/materials-2/?lang=en

70. ”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

71. 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