"<< Background >>In light of the recent pandemic and restrictions applying to the opportunities to meet other people in person, collaboration and dialogue among young people, in youth work and in counselling in general has been suffering a great lack of quality, possibility and provision. Working experience and exchange with collaborating organisations and network contacts of the partners, have shown that creating an inclusive setting for young people to share their concerns, wishes and backstories in, has proven difficult in the last year. The DigiArts project aims to focus on this ""interrupted"" dialogue and develop a qualitative and effective way for young people and youth workers to exchange in dialogue and cooperation and support each other in an innovative digital way.DigiArts focuses on developing an innovative and creative method for youth workers to foster social inclusion. It is based on the Culture & Art for Unity (CA4U) pilot Restorative Justice project that was carried out by the organisation RJ4All in the United Kingdom and was awarded the first prize by the London Mayor’s Culture Seeds competition in 2019. The CA4U was a children-led, community cohesion project that provided educational and recreational activities to marginalised children to create original, digital art to bring local culture to life. DigiArts will use the values of Restorative Justice (power sharing, equality, dignity, respect and involvement in decision making) as well as its dialogue-based practices to establish an inclusive environment for young people of various ethnic backgrounds, gender identities and social classes. DigiArts uses Restorative Justice values and Arts to strengthen collaboration and dialogue among European youth. Disadvantaged young people are invited to talk about their concerns, motivations and obstacles to others in a safe and inclusive setting, supporting intercultural exchange between the groups and raising awareness for other youngsters’ backstories, concerns and needs. The youth workers learn how to support the young people in transforming their concerns into an artistic creation in the form of videos, photos or digital drawings and designs and exchange the art with other young people. Using digital arts to enable dialogue is especially appropriate considering the increase of digital technologies in our private and professional life during the recent years, where such dialogue and collaboration was not possible due to preventive health restrictions worldwide.<< Objectives >>This project aims at providing youth workers and other professionals in this area with an opportunity to broaden their methodologies and adjust their work attitudes to Restorative Justice values in order to foster a dialogue of cooperation and mutual understanding among young people. Thus, DigiArts improves the current practices of youth workers and enhances their competences regarding sensitive topics in youth work. Youth workers learn to incorporate Restorative Justice values into their attitudes and how to implement this approach via creative art tools in their work with young people.The project enhances the intercultural understanding between young people who are struggling with social inclusion and are at risk of being excluded from their peers because of their cultural backgrounds, age, gender identity or social class. Even more, they learn to listen to and to exchange with each other to foster a dialogue of understanding.Expected impact onYOUTH WORKERS- provide them tools which help them to promote a dialogue among different groups, thus foster inclusion- improve youth work methodologies on a local, regional, national and European level by enabling youth work professionals to adopt and implement a new and innovative approach to tackle sensitive and conflicting topics with young people- enable youth work professionals to implement digital counselling without loss of quality or impact. This allows youth workers to broaden the reach of their work and provide support and help for more young people, even including youngsters who are not able to come to a counselling or intervention in person- increase exchange of experiences and practices among European professionals in youth work and young people across EuropeYOUNG PEOPLE- increase acceptance towards diversity, differences of gender identity, social class and migrant backgrounds- increase collaboration and cooperation among young people- support young people to use their creativity and imagination to interact and collaborate with their peers and share their concerns and worries with others. The artistic approach is expected to support them in an open and artful way.- increase awareness regarding the advantages, challenges and risks of digital work<< Implementation >>The DigiArts project consist of three main Results: A Methodology Manual, an Activity Handbook and an E-learning environment and course.Detailed activities include:- Establishment of a Project Management Team (one representative from each project partner);- Development of a Project Management Plan;- Development of a Quality Evaluation Strategy;- Development of a Dissemination Strategy;- Development of a Sustainability Strategy.Local pilots:- R1: 15 youth work professionals per country=15x6= 90 participants;- R2: 20 participants (youth workers and young people) per country=20x6= 120 participants;- R3: 15 (youth workers and young people) per country=15x6= 95 participants;- 4 transnational meetings to ensure successful and effective implementation of the project- 1 transnational training, to discuss necessary adaptations of the materials and train youth workers in the methodology and activities of the project- 6 multiplier events- 5 newsletters- 4 Quarterly Reports (every 6 months)- Interim Report, including all documentation and proofs- Final Report, including all documentation and proofs<< Results >>The DigiArts project is expected to produce 3 key Results:Result 1: Methodological Framework on Restorative Justice and Arts – A Manual on the combination of Arts and Restorative Justice and how to apply this new approach adequately. It will detail the power of using Restorative Justice values (power sharing, equality, dignity, respect and involvement in decision making) in combination with an artistic approach to foster dialogue among young people on a local, national and European level. This Manual is addressed to youth workers to enable them to use this approach to improve, foster and strengthen their work practices, digital resilience and capacity and allow them to reach young people from disadvantaged groups, at risk of social exclusion or from remote areas.Result 2: Activity Handbook on Implementation – Learning activities for youth workers and young people to share their concerns, wishes and experiences regarding Gender stereotypes, cultural stereotypes and racism and stereotyping due to difference in social classes. The Handbook will include 30+ practical activities for youth workers and young people to engage in topic of stereotyping using Restorative Justice values and Arts (videos, theatre, dance, artwork, digital art).Result 3: DigiArts E-learning environment – Transference of the learning activities into a digital format and implementation and creation of an e-learning platform providing the produced results and the online activities. The E-learning environment will feature digital learning activities for youth workers and young people to foster dialogue and collaboration among young people, thus, enabling them to develop more acceptance towards diversity and differences in socio-economic status, cultural or migrant background or gender identity."