CASE STUDY: Norsensus Mediaforum, SDGs Youth Media Allies project
Norsensus Mediaforum is a non-profit media association that aims to enhance and improve the practice of media and information literacy, advocacy, and civic participation in society with a primary focus on civil society capacity building and the empowerment of young people and socially deprived groups, as well as improving inclusion and diversity through media, digital and communication skills.
Norsensus’s vision is a society where all people and communities have equal access to utilize any media and digital tools to ensure equal social and economic participation and self-expression within a diverse media landscape. The organization’s activities and expertise include media and journalism education, development of online tools and digital media contents, digitalization, visual storytelling, media and communication strategy, and capacity building through training courses and media, ICT and communication services, and curriculum development, and research.
The organization was established in 2013 and since its foundation, it has been involved in many local and international projects in Norway, Ireland, Greece, Sweden, Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovakia, Portugal, and Germany in the field of digital literacy, media literacy, communication, and capacity building for NGOs, youth, and related areas.Since 2018, Norsensus has decided to contribute to the Agenda 2030 by developing Nordic projects that promote the Sustainable Development Goals and empower young people to work more with and promote more the SDGs in their communities. The projects are developed in partnership with other youth organizations or media organizations and public agencies that work with young people or/and Agenda 2030.
Topic | (Completion) |
Title | SDGs Youth Media Allies |
Location | Nordic level (Norway, Sweden, and Finland) |
Time | 2019-2020 |
SDG No | The project empowers young people to become promoters of Agenda 2030. There were no specific SDGs selected for the project, but the young people mainly worked with the following SDGs:
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Brief Description | The project empowered young people to participate more by working with Agenda 2030 through youth-owned media projects. To run the media projects, 18 young people gained creative media skills and knowledge on SDGs through a Nordic level workshop and tools on solutions journalism and youth media projects. Then, they involved other approx. Fifty young people from their communities in the media projects promoting SDGs. |
Beneficiaries | Young people (13-19 years old) and youth organizations in Norway, Sweden, and Finland |
Impact | The main impact of the project can be seen in the following aspects:
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Social Innovation | The challenge that Norsensus took on was how to make SDGs relevant among young people, how to empower them to get more involved in supporting the Agenda 2030 in their community. The organization’s approach was to combine the SDGs theme with young people’s media and creative skills. Young people love to create media and online content. Thus they received some support, tools, and space for doing these with a purpose – promoting SDGs or specific work on SDGs in their communities. |
Constraints | The project had some challenges given by the COVID-19 outbreak that slowed down the young people’s engagement in developing the media projects. From the organizers’ perspective, there are no other constraints in the project. However, for the project to fully work, organizations need to have media expertise and a relevant media space where young people can promote their work. |
Sustainability | The guides and the model of working with young people for the Agenda 2030 developed within the project’s framework are further used by Norsensus in its projects. These were also made available to its partners and stakeholders at the Nordic level. At the same time, Norsensus is committed to developing a collection of digital resources and young media projects that empower young people to be direct contributors to SDGs in their local communities. Thus, in the autumn of 2020, Norsensus has started a new digital activism project for young people continuing the work done through the SDGs Youth Media Allies. |
Transferability – Replicability | The project’s model can be easily replicable by other organizations, as long as they can create a relevant online environment where young people can publish their media projects, such as Faktuell. |
Lessons Learned – Conclusions | The main results of the project are:
The project’s success was possible thanks to dedicated staff and young people who coordinated the activities, involving other young people in the project. However, Norsensus is committed to developing new ways of engaging and motivating young people through online tools and activities. |