Moving stories and Generations
The Crosstalk project aimed at giving seniors, schoolchildren, young people and migrants the skills
and confidence to communicate effectively at local media and thus to make an
active contribution to their
own-community. The project was designed
and carried out by a team of 9
European partners in 7 countries which included community media practitioners,
adult education specialists and university researchers.
"Moving stories and Generations" sub-project promoted and
sustained genuine cooperation between old and young via media production. It targeted
senior citizens, children and young people who live together closely but often rarely communicate with each other, and
allowed them to come into contact and exchange stories about their youth.
The first phase of the project consisted in a media education course which provided different
generations with
the desire, self-confidence, and necessary expertise to be involved in the
local media production and to tell stories about the games they played or play
today.
In
its second phase the participants put in practice the skills they had learned. Senior citizens and children/young
adults visited their favourite places, interviewed each other in turn and
produced an audio guide, which takes the listener directly to the actual
venues.
The results of the project are on the one hand the products: the 3
audio-guides, the interactive maps on the internet and on CD and the manual
with course materials. A handbook gives examples and course schedules which can
be used by youth centres, by school teacher or by assistants to elderly people.
On the other hand, concrete and enriching outcomes were achieved thanks to the
project:
- Relationship between the generations -
Inhibitions and distances that stand in the way of communication between the
old and the young were overcome through interviewing and questioning
techniques. Instrumental to this was the replacement of traditional roles by
functional roles, since the decision of the roles was made by an interest based
on commonly agreed contents. The direct intergenerational communication on
equal footing extends the perspectives and revises established self- and
others´ awareness. Furthermore, as the participants got to know each other
through working together, they were able to create a sustainable and
trust-based relationship.
- Increase in media competence - None of the
participants had ever done interviews. After a practice phase, everyone was
capable of doing interviews independently and with self-confidence, and
increasingly they moved away from prepared questions. Recording technologies
did not pose a problem after a short period, especially the children and young
people dealt with them very independently. Everyone learned how to use the
microphones confidently and rapidly showed a lot of creativity in developing
texts for the radio programme.
- Knowledge
acquisition - local historical and current knowledge - As conditions
of living and playing were reflected; changes happened during two generations were
examined and the importance of contemporary witnesses were highlighted, participants
developed local knowledge.
Project coordinator: University of Education Freiburg, Institute of Media in Education,
Kunzenweg 21, 79117 Freiburg / Germany
Contact: Dr. Traudel Guennel, guennel@ph-freiburg.de
Project Partners
Crosstalks
was designed and carried out by a team of 9 European partners which included
community media practitioners, adult education specialists and university
researchers:
*
University of Education - DE
*
Association Free Radio Freudenstadt e.V. - DE
*
Media Centre of the Scientific Advisory
Institute of the Youth Aid Organisation, Freiburg - DE
*
University of Lodz - PL
*
University of Sunderland - UK
*
Radio Robin Hood, Turku - FI
*
Radio Orange 94.0, Wien - AT
*
Mediapolis-Europa, Roma - IT
*
Civil Radio Budapest - HU
More information on the project´s website
