In English

Inclusive Media for All  is a nationwide project that brings opportunities of hands-on media education to everyone – especially adults and people with special needs. It is aimed mainly at professionals who work with vulnerable adults. 

Hands-on media education means learning media skills by doing. The project creates ten media workshops, each lasting about two hours. In these workshops, participants can, for example, make a mobile phone video, an animation, a handmade meme, or practice safe online behavior. Through the workshops, people also learn critical media literacy and how to express their own voice. 

The materials are designed to be so clear that even inexperienced instructors and peer guides can use them. The workshops are tested together with Sosped Foundation’s Culture Houses, three libraries, and three member organizations of the The Mental Health Association of Finland (Mielenterveyden keskusliitto. After testing, the content is improved based on feedback. 

The final workshop models will be published as part of an open information package called “What is Inclusive Media Education for Adults?” This will be available online and as a printed booklet. In addition, the project produces a self-study online course on the website of The Mental Health Association of Finland, online training for professionals, and at various events of social and health sector organizations where participants learn how to use the workshop model in their own work. 

The project also learns internationally. Staff will visit the Društveni centar Rojc in Pula, Croatia, where for example the community radio Radio Rojc perates. After the visit, Croatian colleagues will take part in a workshop in Helsinki that focuses on the possibilities of hands-on media education for adults. 

Through this project, professionals gain practical tools, confidence in their guidance work, and a deeper understanding of why media education matters. Participants improve their skills and self-confidence, and they can share their own perspectives. Libraries, mental health organizations, and Culture Houses get methods they can continue using even after the project ends. 

The project builds on more than ten years of experience from the Sosped Foundation’s Mieletöntä valoa (Epic Light) media activities. These activities have strengthened not only participants’ media-making and media literacy skills but also their sense of belonging and capability. Now these well-tested models will be shared more widely. 

The project follows the strategic goals of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the guidelines of Media Literacy in Finland. At its heart are equality, participation, and the development of adults’ critical media literacy. The project is funded by the National Audiovisual institute (KAVI).