Innocenti Joins European WAVE Project to Promote Digital Inclusion for Young Migrants

Together with other European organisations, the Istituto degli Innocenti will be a partner in the WAVE project - Digital Inclusion for Young Migrants, funded by the Erasmus+ programme and coordinated by the French Red Cross. This 26-month initiative also brings together Generation for Change CY (Cyprus), Faros (Greece), and IAFM (Spain).

WAVE aims to tackle the challenges of the digital transformation by equipping young migrants with essential digital skills, building resilience, and enhancing their access to the digital world. The project also fosters active citizenship and encourages young people to take initiative in their communities.

Project objectives

The project is structured around three specific objectives:

1. Empowering young people with a migrant background by enhancing digital skills, literacy, and access to technology, supporting their full participation in the digital world.
2. Strengthening the expertise of educators and teachers who guide young migrants in their digital learning journey, enabling them to provide essential skills and facilitate access to online services.
3. Promoting youth leadership, encouraging young people to contribute to the digital inclusion of their peers through peer support and community engagement.

The primary beneficiaries are young people and adolescents with a migrant background - with particular focus on supporting girls and young women - as well as the educators who help them develop digital skills.

Planned activities

The project includes a structured set of activities:

• Analysis of existing resources and gaps in the digital inclusion of young migrants.
• Development of a toolkit consisting of two modules to enhance digital skills and inclusion, alongside events where young people can experiment with digital tools and engage in peer-to-peer activities with local peers.
• Preparation of a report on the state of digital inclusion, implementation of training programmes based on the toolkit, job-shadowing experiences among staff from partner countries, and activities to facilitate access to digital skills and devices. All activities will take place in youth and community centres.

Role of the Istituto degli Innocenti

The Istituto degli Innocenti plays an active role in the project, focusing on unaccompanied foreign minors. In particular, it will contribute to:

• monitoring, methodology definition and intervention design;
• developing digital skills and competences in young migrants;
• training of young professionals and youth workers, who will support the acquisition of digital skills by young migrants in formal and informal contexts, based on the toolkit developed by the project.

By participating in WAVE, the Institute confirms its commitment to inclusion, educational innovation and the growth of new generations in multicultural contexts.