What is on our agenda? International projects are looking for common g …

On 18th November 2022 in Potsdam, near Berlin, GMK and IAME organized a workshop inviting German media educators community to discuss our common goals in Media Education International projects.

This workshop “What is on our agenda? International projects are looking for common goals and ways for working together » took place in the framework of the 39th Forum Kommunikationskultur, the German network of media education associations.

This workshop was organised and facilitated by Nicoleta Fotiade, IAME founding member and director of Mediawise Society, Romania together with Patrick Verniers (IAME founding member and director of the High Council for Media Education in Belgium) and Paul de Theux (IAME founding member and director of Media Animation Belgium).

They discussed with GMK members the possibility of opening up the German community to more international partnerships, especially at the level of grassroots organisations that contribute significantly to media education at the local level.  

 

One important point of discussion was that a very limiting agenda on fake news and disinformation is distorting the practice and the media education initiatives at international level.

Moreover media educators have an issue of access to funding but also an issue related to language barriers. 

How should the community/IAME respond?

Here a some outputs from the discussions:

1. Building bridges between powerful national networks that already exist in European countries like Germany (GMK), Italy (MED), Spain etc. but also to identify others in other world countries. They all have tones of expertise and resources that remain local/national. Technology could solve the language barrier. Who can support financially? 

2. Use open source technology and promote open source as an IAME trademark. It is linked also to data mining and our stand on it.

3. Open Source Online Meetings Calendar – a sort of a platform where people (not only IAME members perhaps) could leave their infos and interests and also availability to meet, get to know each other, exchange practices and invite one another in partnerships, events etc. (we can detail at the next IAME meeting) – we can ask all these people that met on this platform to sort of promoting it in their actions

4. Try to identify realistic support of any kind that could help our smaller grassroots IAME members to grow

5. Instead of organising conferences, why not organise a Media Education Festival where different actors meet. Not only mediators but also their cross-sector stakeholders. 

The IAME Board members will discuss the proposals made and will look for solutions and funding opportunities for this kind of exchange and local support.

Many thanks to Ida Poettinger and GMK for organising the workshop.