MINT; YOUTH AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES - ON LINE EDUCATION
In partnership with CARE International www.carecro.org

Donors:
Open Institute Society Croatia
Embassy of Norway
Embassy of Finland
Royal Embassy of the Netherlands

www.zamirnet.hr/mint

Project duration - 12 months

January 15th 2002 - January 15th 2003

Project manager: Sunčana Špriovan

The purpose of the project is raising the awareness among youth about socially important issues and human rights in the context of the democratization of the society.

CARE International participated in the provision of equipment and in the field workshops, while ZaMirNET is the main executor of the on-line education part and the creator of the on-line education software.

Project users:
The immediate users are 15 youth organizations from rural/undeveloped regions and 5 developed youth organizations from larger cities. The estimated number of immediate users is 200 minimally.

Selection criteria:
- 75% of the selected participants are from rural and war-affected areas
- 15 organizations that don't have Internet and computer access
- readiness to provide tutoring to colleagues and to share the computer with other young people and youth groups in their region
- viability plan for the use of the computer and the Internet
- the equal representation of sexes and national minorities among the members of the organizations and among the members of the organizing body
- the youth organizations will not implement any discrimination or violate human rights

Detailed description of activities developed within the project:
1. The organizations participating in the project are:

1. KAOS - Hrvatska Kostajnica
2. SAN - Požega
3. HUK - Knin
4. "Zamjenite nam tugu osmijehom" - Karanac
5. M.I.G.R.A - Donji Miholjac
6. UM Uglješ - Uglješ
7. SPIRIT -Rijeka
8. Udruga Mladih Lipika - Lipik
9. PUŽ - Slavonski Brod
10. Z.V.U.K - Zadar
11. Centar za Inicijative Mladih - Jelsa na Hvaru
12. KVARK - Križevci
13. U.R.L.A.M - Sisak
14. Udruga mladih MOST - Beli Manastir
15. Centar mladih "Belišce" - Belišce

2. Equipment and software acquirement

3. Basic training in computer and Internet skills

4. Making of basic computer and Internet training manual

5. Making of on-line education and electronic news software

The aim of the on-line education is in supporting organizations through building capacities. The costs of such education are lower than the costs of standard style education that requires covering travel and accommodation expenses for the participants.
The educational material is accessible on-line all the time and more people have the possibility to participate because there are no travel and accommodation costs. Once the standardized design of the training has been created, the time requirements for the trainer and programmer are very limited. The training can be replicated a large number of times, and the geographical position of the participants is neither an important nor an aggravating factor. This form of education requires special software in order to enable interaction and simultaneous communication with and between 15 participants. Special software is also needed for the electronic bulletin that will be created in a following stage of the project. It will facilitate regular posting of news created by the youth organizations participating in the project.

6. Activities and networking workshop

7. Internet access enabling and creating Web content

8. Advanced training in Internet skills and using software for creating on-line bulletin

9. Creating and maintaining a web site, creating promotional material

10. Database development

11. On-line education

· Management (democratic structure of NGOs, donation seeking, project managing)
· Public advocating (civil campaigns and nonviolent activism)
· Training on strategic use of the Internet (e-business, e-government, socially important issues, development projects)
· Human rights training (emphasis on women's rights, minority rights, and social and economic rights)

12. On-line consulting

On-line consulting will be possible after completing the basic on-line training, and it will cover the mentioned topics. Each organization will have the possibility for consulting once a week.

13. On-line discussions

· War and human rights,
· Public advocating and human rights,
· Social politics and reforms,
· Globalization and European integrations,
· Sustainable development.