Graphic Recording Digital Transformer Days 2024 Graphic Recording Digital Transformer Days 2024
Graphic Recording Digital Transformer Days 2024
Digital international youth work

Exploring the future of international youth work

RECAPPING DIGITAL TRANSFORMER DAYS 2024

12 and 13 November saw just under 50 participants from seven countries meet up for this year’s edition of Digital Transformer Days, an international platform for innovation and dialogue for experts working in international and digital youth work. This was already the fourth such event organised by the specialist and funding agencies for European and international youth work. The 2024 edition was all about how digital transformation is impacting youth work and how innovative methods and tools can enrich youth work activities. The programme provided space for inspiration as well as interactive debate.

03.12.2024 / Ulrike Werner

The event began on Tuesday evening with an interactive get-together on the digital platform Gather.town, giving attendees the opportunity to get to know each other on an informal, playful level. Networking, speed dating and games helped create an open atmosphere and set the scene for the next day’s programme.

Keynote: Impacts of digital transformation on young people

Wednesday morning began with an impressive keynote presentation by Jarno Alastalo, a recognised digital communities expert from Finland. He outlined the impacts of digital transformation on young people’s everyday lives and spoke about how the youth work community should respond to the resulting changes. He highlighted that for young people, the lines between “real” and “digital” are blurring. To assist them, he continued, we should recognise that digital platforms are an integral part of how they navigate their lives – and that the platforms don’t just influence the way they interact, but also how they see themselves and the world around them. While intercultural dialogue cannot be fully replicated in the virtual space, digital tools can allow for genuine connections to happen wherever in-person encounters are not an option. In this manner, they can enrich the way young people interact and open up new pathways towards meaningful engagement. The experts should maintain an open mind and play the role of what one might call “co-learning guides”. These thoughts by Jarno Alastalo provided fertile ground for the subsequent points on the agenda.

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Innovative and hands-on: The sessions

The programme offered a variety of sessions highlighting current trends, hands-on methods and challenges.

The first round centred on issues such as news manipulation, illustrated by an interactive role-play session by the Kreisau Foundation, and the design of Augmented Reality-based prototypes of immersive memorial sites, as showcased at Körber-Stiftung’s EUSTORY Summit 2024. Other issues that inspired much debate were ethical alternatives to commercial digital tools, and methods for digital youth cultural work.

The second round of sessions offered opportunities to try out future-oriented technologies such as AI-based translation tools or chatbots for international youth work purposes. There was also a presentation of the results of the IJA.digital research project, which explored the opportunities, challenges and success factors relating to the use of digital elements in international youth work.

Fishbowl session: Visions for the future  

The day culminated in a fishbowl session during which the results of the sessions were revisited, ideas exchanged and new trends and visions for the future of international youth work were discussed.

An inspiring, collaborative event

The Digital Transformer Days2024 were an impressive sign of the importance of international discussion and collaboration for the continued development of youth work. The event did not just deliver gripping insights into digital change, they were also an opportunity to explore hands-on methods and innovative ideas. The participants logged off from the event filled with inspiration, fully motivated to help shape the digital international youth work of the future.

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Graphic Recording Digital Transformer Days 2024
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Digital International Youth Work

The area of Digital International Youth Work at IJAB addresses issues relating to digital development in international youth work and implements projects designed to inform, connect, train and advise youth work organisations and professionals.

Mehrere junge Menschen sitzen an einem Tisch und arbeiten an Laptops.
About digital youth education

The internet has become a cultural and communication space in its own right. Digital youth education helps young people to navigate this space responsibly and to use it for social and political participation.