Villa Crossmedia4 parts 1 projeCt

Villa Bota

Project Wolf

thomas more

csV mediacluBhouse

VXM : THE GENERAL IDEAThe Villa Crossmedia Project is an international project created by the European Union which started in 2012 and finds its end in 2014. There are three cities involved in the Villa Crossmedia: two from Belgium, Brugge and Mechelen, and one from the UK, Ipswich. The project is mostly based on volunteers who want to learn how to work with media. VXM includes all kinds of media: tv, radio and print. The different media centers that take part in this project are: CSV Mediaclub-house in Ipswich, UK; Villabota in Brugge, Belgium; Project Wolf in Mechelen, Belgium and 21bis from the Thomas More University College, also in Mechelen.

The particularities and the differences between the centers that are part of the project make it really interesting to follow. You want to know more ? Just keep reading !

CSV MediaClubhouse, where integration is made CSV Mediaclubhouse is the place where this entire project gets form. It is a digital multimedia center combined with music and community art facilities. It is part of a network of multimedia centers based in the heart of the communities of Ipswich, Islington (London), Manchester and Preston.

Ipswich is a large town located in Suffolk, England. Ipswich is a non-metropolitan district nearby the estuary of the River Orwell, on the east of the country. The census is of 133.384 people and it is one hour far by train from the capital of the UK, London. One of the signs of identity of the city is its intercultural core, since it has received several waves of immigrants from all around the world, having the Asian community as the most important one in matters of population.

Different countries, different abilities ‘The speciality of VXM in Ipswich is reaching different groups of people, this is how we contribute to the project’, Darren continues. ‘The most important thing for us is to give chances, help people. The results don’t have to be perfect for us. It’s more about the journey than the final result.’

Villa Crossmedia gives young people a voice. That is the sentence that can summarize the work that is made in the Villa Crossmedia project at Ipswich. Darren Mann, the responsible for the

Villa Crossmedia project, has described us the work they do. The aim of the CSV Media Clubhouse is to help all individuals who want to further their personal development and thus future employability. ‘Everybody can participate; we give them some training and then, they are able to create’, says Darren. He also valuates the integration power that this project has: ‘Different communities work in the same building: a real mix which makes us different to the rest.’

Among all the different communities that are integrated in the project, we can find Polish people, Lithuanian people, who did an art project against sexist violence that can be seen in the building, Hindu, and African. All of them are doing their own workshops and those are included in the Villa Crossmedia project. It is fair to say that the peculiarity of the center op Ipswich is their work of integration.

Ipswich, a city of integration

THE IPSWICH CREW

‘My ambition is to stay in the media

and get to increase my CV’

‘I have a radio show from 5 to 6 PM on Wednesdays. I have finished university and now I am working here. My ambition is to stay in the media, which means that I try to do something so as to have it for my CV. I don’t want to stop working with that. The most important part of the project in Ipswich is the radio, which is good to catch up with people. It’s a good way to bring you inside the media world and at the same time it can be very relaxing to make radio shows. This is something different than TV-shows where there is chaos and a lot of work around.’

‘New people keep

coming here so the project keeps

expanding’ ‘The project really helps to integrate people. We try to engage everyone who is around in this multicultural city. The age range is from 15 to 25 and the people here work in all the media, for example in the Villa Crossmedia Magazine that we have here. My aim of this project is to keep it sustainable, because once the project is finished I would like the magazine to keep going on. I’m a hundred percent this job will be valuable for my future because I have to deal with many different aspects of life.’

‘The work of VXM is different depending on the place where it is

made’

‘CSV brings the community together but now it’s coming to an end. I would like to take part in future projects if they are similar to CSV. The project with Mechelen started in 2013 in July. The way they work is so different: the music they deliver, the way they plan their video reporting, etc. For example I remember the last day that young people were performing rap music in Dutch. The people over there really liked it.’

Ashley Rose (27), youth engagement officer Kie Webb-Heath (25), volunteer Sharna Michael (21), youth engagement officer

THE VIlla Bota CREW

‘I host a radio show which is called Senses. We play Drum and Bass, but in a deeper and harder version, not the typical one that you hear on regular music stations. I don’t think the program is going to be a huge hit. For me it feels like going to a pub after work with a friend and play the music that we love. I have gained more media experience since I arrived here. I DJ, so I know some things about mixers and media players, but I didn’t knew anything about radio programs and broadcasting, untill now.

‘I didn’t know anything about broadcasting,

untill now’

Daan (21, radio host

‘I’m the coordinator of the Villa Crossmedia project of Villa Bota, a job which I took up one year ago. My function is to prepare workshops for people from the video crew. If youngsters are interested in media, this is definitely the place to be. We have the media environment which they don’t find at their schools. They learn technical things and they can try out new stuff. It’s not about theory. Villa Bota is dedicated to young people and gives them opportunities which they didn’t find before in Bruges. They get the chance to develop creative skills and, who knows, maybe become professionals in the media someday.’

‘If youngsters are interested in media, this is definetely the

place to be’

Marie-Laure, coordinator of Villa Bota

‘The project is primarily about empowering young people and giving them a voice in the media. For years the traditional media have dominated the newspapers and the TV and radio stations and they want people to listen. But here and now everybody has a voice.’

Darren, responsible for the VXM project in Ipswich

We give youngsters a VoICe

Since when have you been part of the VXM project? I started in VXM in 2011 and I have been with CSV since 2003. What is the expected future plan of the project? The project actually finishes in September although we continue the relationship with Mechelen and Bruges. Traditionally in the UK young people are not cared about enough and they are somebody else’s problem, but Belgium empowers young people. UK’s attitude towards young people is different and now we have been learning to engage them, to do events and to make them part of it. Young people now have created the most impressive magazines, they are full with energy and creativity, so that’s great. In terms of activity we want to find a sustainable future for Ipswich. We want to keep young people telling their stories through radio shows, in magazines, … We want them to continue. How do you engage volunteers? Some people just come from the street and say ‘I’ve heard you do radio shows, can I do it?’ and that’s great. Then a coordinator just gives them some training and they can start with the radio project. Some others come from school and they want to work with media, some others come because of the partnership we have. For example: Tonya, one of the coordinators, started a project to help the Polish young people, so they started to come here and to take part of it. So integration work is important here? Absolutely. Different communities build up the uniqueness of this building. We have the Lithuanian community, the South American community, the African community, and so on. That makes this place pretty crazy and amazing. The radio studio seems to be the heart of the CSV Mediaclubhouse. Radio is one of the media here where most people work. The radio people come in, write their texts and present their radio shows. Also the space necessary to have a radio studio is

much smaller than what is necessary for a TV space. What is the relationship between Mechelen and Ipswich? From my point of view, Mechelen has fantastic opportunities to work with young people but they have trouble with reaching them. Our speciality is to engage young people outside of the mainstream. We are used to go out and engage the small communities. What do you think about the results of the work? For us it is more about the journey than the final result. If we have somebody who dropped out from school before ending and he comes here because he wants to communicate, it is nice for us if he does some work even if it’s not perfect or smooth. A young person has to make a journey to achieve something. Where do the funds of the VXM project come from? Some of the funds come from the European grant, but the main part comes from different places: private people, local grants, lottery based projects, local governments, national government. This can help us

because since we depend on various organisations: if one source dries out we only lose a small part. Otherwise, if all of the money came from one pot, the project would be over if the pot had no money anymore. What do you think has been the best moment of the VXM project so far? The first exchange we had was absolutely fantastic, to have the chance to see different places from Ipswich. Young people had the chance to learn from different places. Some of the results of the crowdfunding are absolutely outstanding for us, we are very proud. With the radio project, we had seventeen volunteers in the space of six weeks that filled the studio with different shows. One last conclusion about the VXM? I’m happy working here, this is probably the most important place of my career because now I have the chance to empower young people, to give young people a voice. This is just stunning and I love it.

Project WolfEvery project needs a foundation, a base, and the base of the Project Wolf is being constructed by a group of young people who are designing the steps that will define their radio.

As a base of a project done by youngsters to youngsters, music will be a key element and that is the task that nowadays the members of the project are working with. They are preparing a

compilation of songs that will be used in future radio shows that are going to be broadcast.

Nelles De Caluwe, the responsible for the radio part of the project settled in Mechelen, explains some of the main points of this project: ‘Right now there is a group of young people who are selecting and editing music for the radio shows. They are choosing what they think can be more likely to fit with the characteristics of the radio. We are not on air yet, but we already have some plans of what the programs will be about.’

Even though the radio is the most important part, Project Wolf, since it is part of the Villa Crossmedia, is working with other media too, like audiovisual and printed press. The name of the magazine is Gromm.

Gromm Magazine Gromm Magazine is edited by volunteers who are mostly Journalism students from the Thomas More University College. The magazine contains articles and interviews with the most interesting facts about Mechelen for youngsters.

The current Gromm issue is known as the ‘extreme issue’. It is designed by youngsters for youngsters of the Flemish city, basically to look for extreme news.

The crew that is editing this magazine is led by young Journalism students under the supervision of lecturers of the Thomas More University College, They are nowadays working for one their firsts publications of the magazine and they have promised that every young reader will enjoy it because of the topics and the format.

This magazine is the one that has been created so as to fill the lack of magazines that have young people from Mechelen as target group. All the topics included in this magazine are most appropiate for the youngsters, with funny and extravagant stories which will not leave anybody unmoved.

the crew of ProjeCt Wolf

‘We have a radio station which started

broadcasting at the beginning of

March’

‘Project Wolf opens doors to young people to be part of the radio project of Wolf and to all the other parts. All of the youngsters that want to come to share their music and try to do something with the radio are welcomed. For example, they can join the radio, the audiovisual crew and a magazine that is being released every six months. The project wants to make young people know that media are important for the future.’

‘I hope the project will be self-regulating after it’s finished. It is important that people learn more about the media by actually doing it.’

‘We write about youth to show and

share cool stuff about the city’

‘Students of Journalism and volunteers work together in order to make Gromm Magazine for project Wolf. For example: today we are going to work with 8 students. We try to work all together as a family trying to produce a magazine. The goal is to get some nice work done.’ ‘The difference between working here and working at school is that I feel that here we are the youth part and at school we are more the adult ones.’

‘We are working mostly for young people so that’s maybe the main difference between us and the rest.’

‘Each of us has different visions on how we can make

the magazine more interesting’

‘I study Journalism at Thomas More University Collega and Bas introduced me to Project Wolf. He asked me if I was interested to come along with him and we just talked about the ideas that I could have and about what I could contribute to the magazine.

The values are specific because each of us has different visions on how we can make the magazine more interesting.’

‘I have not been here for too long, but now I can see how an editorial meeting works. I’m really looking forward to learning more things.’

Nelles (30), coordinator of radio Bas (23), volunteer Jef (21), volunteer

Youngsters get to improve the ir

mediaskillsAs a part of the Villa Crossmedia Project, Villa Bota is an institution settled in Bruges. It has been working with people, especially youngsters from 14 to 60 years old for more than five years.

Wannes, the coordinator of Villa Bota, explains what youngsters do in Villa Bota: ‘We work together and make radio shows and video stuff. We have an Internet blog where youngsters can write articles. Villa Bota is a media source and lets young people work and learn at the same time.

Youngs can use material that is difficult to reach Villa Bota offers young people an opportunity to work with microphones, TV cameras, audiovisual programs. Youngsters get the occasion to improve their skills in audiovisual media.

Youngsters and not so youngsters can improve their skills and their knowledge about all the media. We give them the chance to work with

audiovisual material that cannot be found in other places and this is the reason why Villa Bota exists’

We are now focused on a visual effects contest Talking about the audiovisual part of it’s work, Villa Bota is now focusing on the production of visual effects for a contest in Bruges on Saturday the 29th of March. Recently there has been a workshop with three French audiovisual DJs. They showed their proposals to the Villa Bota crew and shared and compared knowledge and ways of working.

At the radio part of the Villa Bota, which broadcasts through the Internet, we find more than 40 shows and 100 people working as volunteers. An example of that work can be found in the radio show Senses, based on drum and bass music. Two young DJs have been broadcasting their selection of

electronic music for more than two years.

Daan, one of the DJs who make this show, explains why making a radio show is so important to him: ‘I’m not a professional, I’m just having fun. But anyway, making a radio show gives me more knowledge about media.’

Not only radio, also audiovisual work and a new magazine Villa Bota is looking for new horizons to achieve, and the last horizon they started to work with is the project with print media. That project started in January. It is not very developed, but they are sure they will achieve important aims with it. Wannes : ‘Villa Bota started as an Internet radio but youngsters here wanted to make a video to promote their radio program.Th-ey wanted to work with more media and then there was a chance to work in more aspects.’

Lieve Roegiers, coordinator of 21bis at thomas more

' 21b is i s a newsplatform

for youngsters '

What is 21bis?It’s a news platform for students, mostly for those who study in Mechelen. It contains articles, video and audio reports, radio and TV programs. It is made by last year bachelor students Journalism of the University College of Thomas More in Mechelen. They can choose any topic they like. This is the strength of 21bis, people can choose for themselves what they think is interesting, but the important thing is that they have to think about their target audience.

When did 21bis start?21bis started at the beginning of this school year: we had another platform before but it needed to be updated. It’s called 21bis because of different reasons: this is the number of the building we work in, the average age of the users of the platform is 21, but also: this is a platform of the twenty-first century.

Is 21bis a useful way to learn for the students?The infrastructure in this building is very efficient: we have an editorial meeting room, a radio studio, a TV studio, the Reuters and Belga Box with news feeds, ... This is helping our students and motivating them do develop their skills because their work feels like a real job. The main difference with the real world is that they are allowed to do mistakes since it’s part of their learning process. They can take risks because we allow them to. On the other hand, some of the 21bis-content is surely good enough to be published by professional media organisations and websites, which they regularly do.

What do you think is better, the final result or the work that is done?For the students it’s really important to have a final product to show to the world: articles and reports that they can share with their friends and family through social media. But teachers here are also focusing on the students’ professional attitude: are they able to respect deadlines, can they work in a team, can they cope with criticism?

What is the relation between 21bis and the Villa Crossmedia Project?21bis as a platform can publish any content made by Villa Crossmedia Project partners, as long as it is relevant for our readers. Moreover the expertise and knowledge which we have gained over the years can be shared with our media partners and all youngsters envolved. Both teachers and students are coaching young participants who want to learn more about media.

What are the differences between 21bis and the rest of the Villa Crossmedia Project?The other media partners work with volunteers. It is important that they learn about media literacy but have fun at the same time. We have to take into account that students here are working to get their diploma and to get prepared for a professional career. Of course the fun part can help them to feel more engaged. From an educational point of view, that is a huge challenge: students have to learn a lot, but the most important thing is of course that they are passionate about their professional future in the media.

tV WorkshoPs @ tHoMaS More

As we have seen, all the youngsters involved in the Villa Crossmedia project don’t have to be university students, they can be someone else. And what the Thomas More teachers are trying is to approach the world of the media to those youngsters who are not in the university. They organize some workshops where they explain to the secondary students some technical advices and support in order to make a TV program about the topic the students want.

In these workshops, the teachers give to the students a few advices and after that, let them to work by themselves. That freedom allows to the students to feel this work as their and

also help them to feel the pressure that the real journalist can suffer. With this experience, the teachers try to give the students a new point of view of the media and try to encourage them to continue in this world.

These workshops are not only bound to Villa Crossmedia project; but they are activities from the Thomas More University and will continue until this project ends next September. After that time the Thomas More staff and the secondary schools will try to go on with another project so as to continue that useful and interesting media experience.

What are you doing for the Villa Crossmedia Project as a part of 21bis? For the VXM we do television workshops, we invite secondary schools to come here to make their own television program. We work together with the teachers and then they do the reports for the school about the work done in the project

What are the audiovisual workshops in 21bis about? It’s all about multi-camera television project, it’s not about journalism approach because we don’t help them with the content, and we just help them with the technical part and of course a bit with presentation skills; but the thing that we really focus on are camera skills and editing skills. It’s

more about the final technical things.

When did you start your collaboration with the workshops?

I started workshops in 2009, but it was not Villa Crossmedia yet. There were workshops also funded by European Union projects and this is why the schools were happy about the fact that they could do those workshops again. We know that it’s always a matter of money, of course, but we hope that after the Villa Crossmedia project there will be a new project, because we have to make the kids smart about media, and I hope we can help to do it.

Who is working in the part of Villa Crossmedia of 21bis?

Tom Rumens and I work in workshops, he is the communication manager and I’m doing technical support. We also have students of Journalism who are in their second year and help us.

How many students go through the workshops?

This year we will reach more than 150 students for television, so we are very

happy to give them a chance to work with media. It’s good for them to come here and work more practically because this experience is really funny for them. The teachers always say they like it and the students too. They are proud of their work and when the program is done they can share it with friends and family.

What happens with the TV programs done in the workshops?

The work that is done is just for the schools and they take it home and they do whatever they want with it, but now we have a website of schools but it’s more about them, they share what is done.

Do you think that this first experience can change their point of view about media?

I think that to change their point of view it’s too much. I think it’s fun for them how to make a story, a report, an interview, but I don’t think it really changes their mind. It approached to them to what is the media, but with just a workshop it’s too few to say that. It’s not the purpose to change their mind but it can help. It’s more about the experience than the mind work.

make your oWn tV PrograM ?how to

Thomas De Weerdt, member of the Villa Crossmedia Project of 21bis, explains everything there is to know about audiovisual workshops.

Words Diego Aragon Gerard Domingo

lay-out Stephanie Naessens

Jade Van Lint