Our European association was founded in 2005 as a European non-profit NGO, based on German law and officially registered at the court Amtsgericht Münster. Right now we have 52 member NGOs from 32 countries working in the field of community media and civil society engagement. The member organizations form the active European network of communities, youth institutions, radio and TV stations as well
as culture- and media- centers, being places for communication and civic engagement. Together, the young people of the European partner institutions organize cross-border networks of youth media work. They promote political and intercultural dialogue by means of audiovisual media. We have a wide range of activities on local as well as on the European level. The main spheres of activities include:
political and media education, civil society engagement, lifelong learning (LLL), media literacy and media training courses (video journalism, cross-media journalism, trainer competences, project management), production and dissemination of media products
training and exchange of experts of the youth media work
construction of an online – presence (website / video portal / blog space) European awareness, advocacy for community media development in Europe, international youth cooperation, intercultural dialogue projects
The most important areas of work in our association include: media literacy and digital media education for young people that equip them with new competences and skills concerning ICT and new media. Thanks to our training courses and workshops young people learn how to tell a story by means of picture and sound, they also learn how media can manipulate and affect the reality. Young learners are taught how to use a semi-professional video camera, edit videos in a nonlinear way, as well as how to appear well-spoken and presentable in front of the camera by overcoming apprehension and tension while working with it. Both our unconventional educational methods and multicultural environment have an impact on the young people who take part in our courses. They not only become more self-confident and motivated but they are also able to determine their needs and interests in order to achieve their goals. Moreover, during our training courses that are held in different places all over the Europe we deal with important social issues. Every meeting discusses one major subject. The most common are: youth employment, protection of the environment, prevention of discrimination and xenophobia, historical awareness and reconciliation, activation of young people in the civil society, especially teenagers with lower chances of personal development coming from ethnic or national minorities or from poorly developed social and economical rural areas. By means of digital media we develop youth’s skills and competences that help them express themselves and their views on important contemporary topics. This is how we perceive contemporary community media which should be based on full engagement and participation.
