The Insafe network meets to discuss vulnerable users at the Insafe Training meeting

Today, another edition of the bi-annual Insafe Training meeting kicks off. The two-day event is an opportunity for the Insafe network of European Safer Internet Centres (SICs) to meet in person to facilitate the sharing of experience and good practices between network countries, to explore areas of common ground, and opportunities for closer working between awareness raising, helpline, and youth participation strands. The April 2023 Insafe Training meeting is held face-to-face in Vienna, Austria.

Date 2023-04-19 Author BIK Team Section awareness, helplines, hotlines, industry Topic media literacy/education Audience media specialist, organisations and industry, research, policy and decision makers
A group of black women in a conference room having a meeting

This edition of the Insafe Training meeting includes a series of activities spanning over two days. Today, the activities kick off with optional visits to a local school or to the Austrian helpline Rat auf Draht in the morning. The official training meeting starts at 13:00 CEST with a welcome video message from the Austrian State Secretary for Youth, Federal Chancellery of Nehammer, among other addresses from the Insafe network, the Austrian Safer Internet Centre, and the European Commission. 

The opening keynote address will focus on vulnerable users and will be followed by a number of sessions focusing on different vulnerabilities: each will aim to showcase the latest research and evidence about the challenges faced by the groups in question, as well as examples of good practices from the network. This work will also contribute to the drafting of a network good practice guide on vulnerable groups online. 

The meeting will also include a network planning session for the forthcoming edition of Safer Internet Day (SID), next taking place on Tuesday, 6 February 2024, and a customary resource competition to showcase the diverse range of educational resources and videos created by the network, this time focusing on resources designed for vulnerable users.

As it is customary, youth participation will once again be on the agenda with a dedicated session to brainstorm about effective youth participation formats and approaches, and exchange good practices. Several BIK Ambassadors will be in attendance to share their insights in this regard. 

The closing keynote of the Insafe Training meeting on Thursday, 20 April 2023 will focus on how industry partners are working with vulnerable groups, and will include contributions from Snap and Google on the digital well-being of teens and young adults, and how to give voice to children and young people in the development process of new digital technologies. 

If you wish to learn more about the work of the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres and other stakeholders in the field, visit the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) portal and subscribe to the quarterly BIK bulletin for news and resources on the latest trends and challenges online.  

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