Youth on the Move - an online European magazine in a global media environment

Abstract

Youth on the Move started as a three-year project 2013-2015 between 4 partner institutions in the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey and Norway. Students and staff in media-related disciplines from the four countries set out to develop an online magazine to cover issues such as education, employment and mobility. The project is financed by the European Union, as part of the EU2020 smart growth strategy. It is organized as a series of annual intensive programmes, or IPs, held in February each year in one of the partner countries. This paper is divided into two parts. Part 1 outlines the EU2020 strategy, the project and partner institutions and the first IP in Amsterdam in February 2013. We also consider theoretical and practical aspects of online magazine narratives in today’s multimedia global environment, and introduce student productions from Youth on the Move. Part 2 analyzes the outcomes of the first IP held in Amsterdam in February 2013, based on student evaluations and interviews with staff. A brief note is added on the recently completed second IP in Oslo in February 2014. Finally, changes in EU higher education policy that will affect the third IP in Stuttgart in 2015 are taken into account.