Online Social Networks: Agents of Change?
Event Details
vent Details
Registration:
Attendance at the Symposium is free, by invitation-only and on a first-come first-served basis. To register yourself or an appropriate colleague please contact bebo.symposium@beboinc.com with your name, title, organisation and contact details.
The Coalition, which was launched by the Prime Minister, with the cooperation of community stakeholders, such as Richard Taylor of the Damilola Taylor Trust, invites you to attend its first event, which takes place on 7 July at Regent's College, London. Its aim is to facilitate dialogue and shape future strategies on how Social Networks can be better harnessed by initiatives to tackle social issues and improve lives.
This unique invite-only Symposium will bring together a range of stakeholders including: third sector organisations, policy makers, academics, social entrepreneurs and innovators, technology industry players and futurologists.
About the Coalition:
The Coalition has been tasked by the Prime Minister with initiating and enhancing campaign activities that change young people's behaviour so that fewer young people carry knives and fewer fear them.
The Coalition takes the view that it is necessary to adopt a holistic approach to the issues surrounding young people’s involvement in violent crime and believes that Social Networks can be effectively employed in innovative ways to meet these needs.
The Symposium aims to engage delegates in conversations around the idea that Social Networks can be effectively and creatively harnessed by initiatives designed to meet a whole range of young people’s social, educational and wellbeing needs. Drawing on the experiences of a range of stakeholders who are actively using social networking to bring about change, and linking into other events that celebrate young people using technology to change their own worlds for the better (for e.g.www.2morro.org/), the Symposium’s goal is to push the debate and stimulate activities that truly leverage the full potential of web 2.0 technologies to help young people take positive control of their futures in respect to knife crime and other social challenges.
Online social networking for social change?
Bebo – a founding member of the Coalition – has long since recognised this potential and continues to enable a range of partners to engage with young people on its Be One platform (www.bebo.com/BeOne). Using a Social Network innovatively can have a multitude of benefits, for example:
· it can help to foster participative dialogue between young people and community/support initiatives, which fosters reciprocal relationships and potentially improves outcomes;
· it can be used to deliver professional support and information services from within the online Social Network to increase the reach and accessibility of these services, which can normalise and de-stigmatise early help-seeking, while also improving health literacy;
· it can enable initiatives designed to explore, inform and challenge young people's views about their own lives, communities and society in general and inspire them to become more active and engaged citizens who are able to shape their own the futures.
Format
The day is divided into two halves. In the morning delegates will hear from a series of inspirational speakers who will make the case that social networks can enable a step change in the way that young people are supported. During the ‘opening conversation’ speakers will debate the question ‘can online social networks act as agents of change?’, bringing their differing perspectives – from government, third sector, industry and social innovation – to the question. After coffee, representatives from a range of organisations will share their experiences of using social networks to bring about change, and through case studies offer inspiration and practical advice to delegates on how they can realise the potential of social networks in their own organisations.
During lunch and at the coffee breaks, delegates will have the opportunity to interact with the online projects and organisations referenced throughout the morning and will meet the people who are involved in running them.
In the afternoon delegates will break into sub-groups to take part in the ‘Social Lab’, a creative process that, following discussion about the potential ways of using social networking to bring about change, aims to emerge with a series of potential projects, initiatives and conversations which can be taken forward in the coming weeks and months to address knife crime and other related social challenges.
The day will conclude with the whole Symposium discussing the ideas that have emerged from the Social Lab and deciding next steps. The discussion will form the basis of report which will inform the ongoing work of the Coalition, as well as future government strategies and initiatives aimed at empowering young people.
Themes and outcomes
There a number of sub-themes and outcomes that we hope will emerge throughout the morning:
Innovating for change: The Symposium will hear from people and organisations that are adopting innovative approaches to difficult challenges in order to achieve goals and create new possibilities. We hope that following the Symposium delegates will be inspired to harness online social networks in innovative ways in their own organisations, as they look to engage and support young people.
New collaborations: Many of the initiatives that we have invited to participate in the Symposium have come about as a result of partnerships being formed across stakeholder groups, thereby allowing diverse experiences and expertise to cross-pollinate and flourish. In the same way that the Coalition itself is a unique example of Corporate, government and NGO’s working together innovatively and collaboratively, the Symposium aims to stimulate more of these cross-sector connections so that grass-root projects, charities, technologists and entrepreneurs can work together to create positive futures.
Practical advice: In addition to being inspired to use web 2.0 technologies in new ways in their own organisations, we would like delegates to leave the day with practical tips and lessons on achieving success and learn about the obstacles they may face and how to overcome them.
Shaping policy and strategy: It is hoped that the Symposium will positively contribute to ongoing conversations currently taking place (for eg Digital Britain, UKCISS and www.rebootbritain.com) around the positive role that web 2.0 technologies can play in addressing a range of front-line policy areas, including health and wellbeing, children and education and crime and justice.
Who should attend?
• community organisations
• support, mental health and social care organisations
• national UK and international charities
• educationalists
• social media experts
• social innovators and entrepreneurs
• futurologists
• law enforcement agencies working in this field
• anti-knife crime experts
• youth violence policy makers
• media, telecoms and technology industry players
• corporates
• government officials
Date and Location:
The Symposium will be held on 7 July 2009 at Regent's College, Inner Circle, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4NS. It will be a one day event, starting at 9.30am; further agenda details to follow.
The No to Knives Coalition is co-chaired the Prince’s Trust and the Damilola Taylor Trust, with secretariat provided by the Football Foundation.
bebo.symposium@beboinc.com
