Estonia

Estonian participants of the workgroups and project descriptions

1. Ms Malle Hallimägi (EST), Director of the field of promotion of children's rights

2. Ms Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt (EST), Research fellow, Institute of Journalism and Communication, University of Tartu

3. Mrs Marita Lumi (EST), Website www.lastekas.ee

4. Mr Mikk Rand (EST)

5. Mr Gerard Tarand (EST), Director of Youth Policy, Estonian National Youth Council

6. Ms Helen Kereme (EST), Chief expert of special youth work, future coordinator of the media team in Estonian Youth Work Centre

Estonia
Project descriptions

Projects for parents, teachers and youth workers

1. www.peremedia.ee Presented by: Ms Malle Hallimägi, Director of the field of the promotion of children's rights

Promotion of media education is a new area of activity for the Estonian Union for Child Welfare. Certain skills and knowledge enabling people to communicate with and as part of the media are required if media education is to be achieved. The emphasis in media studies is on the development of the student's individual skills and the intermediation of knowledge , which can be interpreted as a means of shaping skills and attitudes. What do we want to achieve?

• To provide young school children and their parents with information about public communication, how it works, the ethics involved, it's influence and more

• To develope the skills of these children and their parents in communicating with the media and as a part of media, including safe behaviour in a new media environment, 'best practice' in communication and more

• To develope critical thinking skills in the children and their parents in 'reading' television programs , commercials and more

• To motivate media teachers to contribute to public debate about media education

In order to achieve these aims the online environment www.peremedia.ee has been created, whose message to the target groups are:

Child: The media that influences us every day is interesting and full of opportunities when you know how it works.

Parent: The right consumption of media will contribute to your child's development

Teacher: Introducing the media into your subject will make it more approachable for students

2. http://eukidsonline.ut.ee Presented by: Ms Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, Research fellow, Institute of Journalism and communication, University of Tartu

The website provides information about the Internet use of children and teenagers and the risks and opportunities associated with it, and overviews of similar studies in Europe. Of key importance is the creation of a database of studies which is context-based, constantly updated and able to be taken seriously, and on the basis of which it would be possible to direct a flexible political network and development of academic studies.

The EU kids online brings together 21 European researchers who are primarily involved in studies of the use of new media among children and teenagers. The three year partnership project - which includes meetings between scientists from different countries, the creation of a network and awareness-raising work - is designed for the collation, comparison and assessment of existing data.

The aim is to find comparable results between memeber states on the basis of which it would be possible to formulate recommendations regarding child safety, media writing skills and awareness. The participants in the project also invite the general public, practitioners and other scientists to contribute to dialouge so as to reach the goals that have been set.

Projects with easy access for children and young people

3. www.lastekaas.ee Presented by: Ms Marita Lumi

The www.lastekaas.ee portal is an environment for children and family in Estonia which is updated daily. Its keywords are fun, development and free from violence. The most popular part of the portal among children is the Internet cartoon series Jänku-Juss, which has been broadcasted every Wednesday for three and a half years. Its episodes are watched more than a million times every month (peaking at 1.25 million in January 2008). The 200th epidsode of the series will be completed in June.

The portal is visited from around 40,000 different IP addressesevery week and 120,000 per month. Between 150,000 and 200,000 pages are viewed every day (5-6 million per month). Those under the age of seven view the page with their parents.


4. www.kinobuss.ee Presented by: Mr Mikk Rand

The purpose of the "Kinobuss project" is to disribute for the Estonian public the art of cinema and knowledge of filmmaking. Travelling from town to town Kinobuss shows Estonian and worldwide quality films and organizes film workshops.

Projects produced by children and young people

5. www.enl.ee Presented by: Mr Gerd Tarand, Director of Youth Policy, Estonian National Youth Council

A 'contribution metro' has been developed as part of the Estonian National Youth Council's participation campaing

It is designed to chart the opportunities available for children and young people in Estonia to get involved in social life and influence the decisions that are made. The 'metro map' features different types of participation, from simply asking questions to voting and standing in the European Parliament elections. The 'contrinution metro' forms the basis for the 'Contribution School' project, as part of which different stops are simulated in schools. The council has also translated the 'contributio metro' into Finnish