Munich, Germany
Media Center of JFF – Institute for Media Research and Media Education
Young people who are new to Germany (potentially as refugees); young people who have grown up in Germany
The MY WelcomeGuide provides both young people and children with refugee experience with short video clips to help them find their way around their new environment. The clips should neither be instructive nor pointing fingers.
The aim of the project is to provide new arrivals with initial tips on basal questions. The main aim is to show young people the possibilities of coping with everyday life and opportunities for participation in society. The project is designed in such a way that the young people who produce the welcome clips are actively involved at all levels. They are significantly involved in the selection of topics as well as in the realization of the clips. This guarantees that the topics are very close to the needs of the refugees arriving in Munich.
The project was developed by media educators from the Munich Media Centre and accompanied by an advisory board consisting of representatives of various organisations and social institutions from the field of intercultural work. The advisory board acts both as an advisory committee for the selection of the topics and for the acceptance of the clips in order to guarantee that the transported content is free of possible misinterpretations.
The project is designed in such a way that the young people who produce the welcome clips are actively involved at all levels. They are significantly involved in the selection of topics as well as in the realisation of the clips. This guarantees that the themes are very close to the needs of the refugees arriving here in Munich.
The young people select the topics accordingly, develop ideas for their implementation (especially how as much as possible can be presented non-verbally) and implement the videos together. Last but not least, multilingual young people can use this special ability to synchronise the videos.
In the field of active media work and video production, experience with the publication and synchronisation of videos on online platforms such as YouTube is important.
Competences in intercultural work are also important in order to be able to accompany the experiences of very heterogeneous groups.
All participants had a lot of fun developing ideas, filming and acting together. Of course there was also an intercultural exchange, but above all it was about what experiences were made in Germany, the country of arrival, and which tips could be passed on to someone who arrives completely new.
The short clips should appeal to and be understood by as many people as possible in order to give helpful tips or entertain. Many different cultures meet in the project group, which can lead to misunderstandings. However, with the aim of producing understandable videos, these can be made into a constructive topic and contribute to intercultural understanding.
The video clips can be used by other institutions to support new arrivals.