Our Codesign project (funded by Youthlink) is part of Include+, a nationwide project focusing on digital exclusion.
What this project looks like for the young people taking part is designing a brand new video game, with regular workshops at Abertay University’s game design centre. You can watch a short video about what they’ve been up to here.
One of our youth workers, Joe, recently attended Include+’s networking event on Meaningful Digital Inclusion at the University of Leeds – this is what he had to say about the event;
The day began with discussions regarding the different projects and it was fascinating to learn about some of the work being carried out worldwide by the network. From art, to AI, to digital youth work, it was fascinating to pick the brains of experts in various fields and take on some valuable information which we can use in our regular practice. Some particularly useful things I learned were about the benefits and risks of AI for young people and how to monitor usage of it and how to adapt delivery for people with complex additional needs.
Next, it was my turn to present an update on our project as part of a workshop on youth-led research and development run by Dr Andrew Reid of the University of Abertay. This was great fun and led to further discussions and questions from other youth organisations and academics alike. Our young people’s trailer for our new video game (“Scales of Sorrow”), went down a storm and there was plenty of people excited to give the game a go!
More networking and thought-provoking conversation took place over lunch and the afternoon consisted of a fascinating workshop into various arts projects across the world looking at work with various groups and communities who face barriers and challenges to digital inclusion.
Overall, it was a fantastic day, and it was such a great opportunity to meet so many people involved with Include+ and learn about different areas that can benefit our project as it continues.
