[Application Extension: 6th April] What the Future Wants: Call for Partners
Tactical Tech is seeking partners to work with us to deliver a new project that explores the topics of European youth, technology, culture and critical thinking. What the Future Wants will be based on our award-winning project The Glass Room, which has so far been hosted at over 170 events in over 40 countries. Using various creative and educational formats, we will work alongside young people, their educators and organisations and institutions that support young people, to create a public intervention and accompanying educational curricula that ultimately answers the question: what are the demands that young people have of the digital environment they inhabit and will inherit?
Download the project info sheet here.
Partnership criteria
This partnership call is specifically for key partners who will help to develop and deliver this project. As a key parter you will be responsible for: working with Tactical Tech to establish co-development working groups with young people (aged 14-18) in your country; establishing a network of local hosts in your country (up to 5) such as schools libraries and youth groups; distributing training module materials to local groups to host their own exhibition with the support of Tactical Tech; and promoting the project with communication and outreach activities.
In order to apply, applicants must:
- be based in Europe, and working predominantly in Europe*
- have existing programmes or projects that are for young people (in the range of 14-18 years)
- engage young people in critical thinking about social, political or cultural topics
- be a registered non-profit and/or have charitable status
- have on-going relationships with relevant local organisations and groups and a high profile in your own community
- have an existing team and facilities and cover core costs for delivering the project, with potential for follow up activities and future actions (partners will receive support from Tactical Tech and depending on their needs, up to 4000 Euro to cover some costs)
- have access to a an established youth network with a reputation for creativity, innovation and youth education through critical thinking, as well as existing communication channels to reach young people
- ability to sign up to a formal partnership agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities of the partnership
- sign the code of conduct and have in place appropriate safeguarding policies
We encourage you to apply if:
- You have experience with co-development, peer-to-peer learning and youth-led methodologies and pedagogy
- You have existing youth programmes that address topics relating to young people and technology such as: data literacy, online privacy, digital wellbeing, misinformation
* We consider Europe to be beyond the boundaries of the European Union to include the entire European continent. For eligible countries, see list of states and territories section on this Wikipedia page.
How to apply
To apply, please answer the questions on this short survey and submit your responses by Tuesday 6th April 23:59 CET (deadline extended). If you have any questions about the application process or the project, please write to daisy (at) tacticaltech (dot) org.
FAQs
Can I apply if I’m an individual working with young people?
No. You can only apply on behalf of a registered organization or institution with non-profit or charitable status. If you work with young people and you’d like to be involved in the project then we would encourage you to get in touch. There will be many others ways to collaborate with us on this project, for example you could host a What the Future Wants in your country or you could be part of our educational curricula testing.
Can I apply as a young person or on behalf of a youth-led initiative?
If you are applying on behalf of a registered organization or institution with non-profit or charitable status then you’re eligible to apply. If you’re applying as a young individual then unfortunately you’re not eligible to be a key partner. However we would still encourage you to get in touch as we will be looking for young people to work with us on developing content.
Do I need to be working with young people on issues relating to technology and society?
It is not necessary for you to be working exclusively on digital topics, however we will be seeking partners who enable young people to think critically about society.
How much support will I receive as a key partner?
Partners will receive support from Tactical Tech and where necessary can also receive up to 4000 Euro for costs incurred. This will be reviewed on a case by case basis. Costs for translation and distribution will be covered by Tactical Tech. As this amount will not cover all of the costs associated with being a partner, we’re looking for partners who will not rely on this partnership as a sole source of funding and who have the resources and capacity to carry out the work.
Do we need to dedicate a full-time member of staff to this partnership?
This partnership should complement your existing programme for the year and therefore should not require a dedicated member of staff. There will be regular check-ins and short periods of more time-intensive work such as translation of materials (or translation co-ordination), setting up co-development workshops alongside Tactical Tech and training the local hosts.
What is the difference between a local host and a key partner?
A key partner will be the main point of contact with Tactical Tech, working closely with us to develop, translate and distribute the materials. There will up to five key partners working in five countries in Europe. Each key partner will select up to five local hosts from their country.
The local hosts will set up the What the Future Wants events in their community. They can be schools, libraries, museums, galleries, community centres, or anywhere where young people go to learn or access content.
Will the project still go ahead if the Coronavirus pandemic makes it impossible to have in person events?
Yes. Tactical Tech have adapted the Glass Room project so that it can be shown in both digital and hybrid formats. Whilst it is planned that these exhibitions will be in person events, we can also explore digital or hybrid events instead if necessary.
When will this project take place?
This project starts immediately and will run until Summer 2022. The What the Future Wants public intervention will be launched in February 2022 and events will be hosted across Europe between February and May 2022. The majority of the key partner work will take place in 2021 including co-development, sourcing and training of local hosts and translation of materials.
What language(s) do I need for this partnership?
The partnership collaboration and coordination will be in English, so you need to have good written and spoken English so that we can effectively communicate. The exhibition materials themselves will be translated into the key partner language and the the key partners will be responsible for communicating with the local hosts.
How will the co-development with youth work?
Tactical Tech, with support from key partners, will set up co-development working groups whereby young people from each country can contribute to various stages of the project, from development to outreach. Each group will be asked to address two questions 1) what issues do young people face today in their digital environment and what concerns them about the future? and 2) how can we use this intervention to address these issues? Building off previous youth workshops and research, Tactical Tech will create a co-development framework to guide these discussions and ensure that the outcomes are fed directly back into the project.
Funded by:
This project has been made possible thanks to support from:
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Cover image by Delila Ziebart on Unsplash.