Radijojo World Children's Radio & Media Network
We connect children in more than 100 countries for media, education and exchange projects: All age groups, all kids' issues. Non-commercial. Advertising free.
About You
About You
First Name
Thomas
Last Name
Röhlinger
Twitter URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Radijojo gGmbH
Organization Website
Organization Country
Germany, Berlin
Country where this project is creating social impact
Germany, BE, Berlin is headquarter, but social impact worldwide
Is your organization a
Non‐profit / NGO / Citizen sector organization
Your role in Education
Administrator, After-School Provider, Coach, Parent, Resource Officer, Social Worker, Teacher, Other.
The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with
Public (tuition-free)
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)
How long has your solution been in operation?
Operating for more than 5 years
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
1.1. To create empathy in the hearts of children worldwide, it needs direct child-to-child contact, across cultural, social, national borders – this is what many schools worldwide don't or can't deliver. And if they deliver? Nobody hears about it in the public - since its ignored by mainstream media.
2. To create empathy in the heart of people worldwide, young and old, it needs public awareness and indepth insight in the issues of marginalized groups – here, the mainstream media fail to deliver. With bombing children and families with constant commercial non-informative content full of violence, propaganda, non-sense, they are part of the problem – not of the solution. And: they earn money with stealing precisous time of the kids that they would need for education and empathy building.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
We combine the empathy-creating potential of IT-based peer-to-peer cooperation of children in and out of school with the power of civil society media. Children of different parts of the world learn to know each eather, learn together, make friends, start partnerships.
And with the kids-made media reports about their achievements, they inform the public and function as role models for other children. Our media coverage, to be live on air, encourages them & the whole community. Moreover, being a child reporter opens doors to meet, interview and discuss important people, experts, role models that they would normally never would have the chance to meet. Example: UN messenger for Peace Jane Goodall, interviewed by a reporter that has strong learning disabilities, a marginalized Turkish girl who later received an award with us!
Thus, we can empower children to develop empathy and, as second step, multiply the awareness for their achievements via civil society broadcast and social media.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
In our series “We discover the World”, school children of the global North (Germany) focus on different global South countries and the life of children in these countries, e.g. Uganda, Ghana, Afghanistan, Thailand, India, Pakistan. They learn about children's rights, gender, child labour, climate change, interview experts and discuss possible solutions. As the highlight, they directly contact children in these countries either via skype, phone, email, letters, drawings. Thus, the children in the North get a broad understanding and a much closer personal, emoational relation to those issues that are far, far away for them. As a result, the kids often establish school partnerships and start fundraising for their new friends in the South. We record the whole process of global learning and empathy building in the workshop and turn into podcasts, radio shows and websites that are free use for all schools, families, digital civil libraries. Plus we share the resulting shows with non-commercial radio stations within the network of the World Association of Community Radios. This model creates a multi-win situation:The kids learn a lot and build empathy for peers in the South, other kids and families and the public become aware of their achievements, educators learn how to use IT for such projects in the future, non-commerical media are happy that they can provide their local audience with valuable, educative content, our donors are happy that we successfully contribute to global learning, cultural exchange and empathy building, both locally and internationally.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Peers: Schools, Youth Centres, municipalities, foundations, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Alliance of Civilizations, World Association of Community Radios, social networks based education networks like Classroom 2.0.
Competitors: Commercial children's media: exploit kids instead of educing them, block most important social issues since they could "ruin" their audience flow and ad revenues. Facebook: does not educate and empower the kids for indepth educative work. Web-based education networks like IEARN: do not have the link to civil society media and their multiplying power, especially in regions with little internet access. Public Media: are top-down, mostly made by professional adults talking down the kids and are a “closed shop” especially for marginalized and “less talented” normal kids.
Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.
Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]
We connect children worldwide in media based project of global learning, peace, empowerment, culture. Non-commercial, advertising-free.
Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]
We foster empathy, combining IT-based global learning and exchange of (school)kids worldwide with the power of civil society media.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We have reached and involved children, youth, educators in more than 100 countries now; among them as diverse states as Afghanistan, Pakistan, USA, Canada, Russia, China, Greenland, Kiribati, Malawi; often marginalized kids. We have proven how intense and committed kids (from as early as kindergarten up to 18 years) worldwide are in working together, how keen they are to meet other cultures and how happy and ready they are when it comes to showing solidarity to peers in other countries after our trainings. We have proven the power of the innovative mix of school based media workshops and cooperation with civil society media. As a result, we have a tremendous demand for projects in more than 100 countries, from Mocambique to Indonesia, from Bolivia to USA: school, youth centre, street children shelters, community media asking for cooperations and want to become part of our global network, want to foster empathy, tolerance, peace, education across cultural, social, political borders.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
1. Global roll-out: 150 countries involved
2. Intensification: more and more regular exchange of even more the partners worldwide. More minorities + handicapped kids involved
3. Diversication: More multi-media and social media involved. Re-naming to World Children's MEDIA Network
4. Educational progress: research and impact based improvement of our methods, disseminated by training of involved educators.
5. Decentralization, based on "Social Franchising": Establishment of regional and national chapters of our World Children's Media Network on all continents. This is the strategic tool to guarantee for true and equal global exchange of kids, as condition to reach empathy and understanding.
6. Sustainability by diversification and growth of funding sources (details see next block)
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Stabilize and systematize our rapid geographical growth
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Finalize running registration process in the US as (501) organization
Task 2
Launch of pilot project in Morocco on conflict prevention& peace, as core cell for chapter in Arab region
Task 3
Coordinate and run peer projects with India, Bangladesh, Bolivia, France, Serbia, Kiribati, Hungary et.al.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Establishment of regional chapters in North America and Arab World
Task 2
Preparation of regional Chapters in Subsahara, Asia, Latin America
Task 3
Preparation of Establishment of World Children's Media Foundation - the "big point"
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]
Back in 2001, I did my MBA in Media Management. My son Jonathan was five then. As a journalist, I wanted to listen to the radio, but I realized that I had to turn it off everytime my son came in: There was scary news in the context of 9/11, and the other stations were full of mindless commercial trash. This was the moment when I started to think about a children's radio - and I discussed it with Jonathan. As sociologist with some child/media psychology knowledge who was influenced by East German civil society movement in his youth, I decided that the radio should non-commercial, educative, advertising-free and organized as grassroots NGO. I started with 5000 Euro debts due to the MBA and only with the help of friends.
Ten years later, we connect children in more than 100 countries, have received prestigious awards. And Jonathan? He became part of the Global Youth Media Council and co-author of its declaration at the World Summit on Media for Children and Youth in Sweden 2010...!
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
We are a network of networks:
* Education sphere: Schools, Educators's networks and platforms, unis. We are member of International Education Resource Network, e.g.
* Civil society sphere: Youth Centres, Culture Centres, NGOs. We are member of Jane Goodalls "Roots and Shoots" Network for peace and environment, e.g.
* Civil society media sphere: We are member of World Association of Community Radios & Community Media Forum Europe.
* We are in dozens of social media groups
* Development sphere: We cooperate with UNICEF, UNESCO, Plan International, countless grassroots groups worldwide
What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]
1. A core leading team of 10 staff (editors, media educators, project managers, technician, translators)
2. Some 50 trainees in qualification programmes for former unemployed migrants, youth and elder people
3. Some estimated 500 volunteers in 100 countries (e.g. teachers, NGO staff) worldwide who help to involve their local kids in common projects, record and exchange content and help translating.
4. Students from universities supporting our local work with marginalized kids and help evaluating and optimizing our work.
5. Volunteers at civil society media who broadcast our content
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
1. We look for strong endowments by well-respected donors for our World Children's Media Foundation, designed as a decade flagship project that is singular worldwide, a project that shall have the power to give millions of marginalized children worldwide access to education, information, exchange, empowerment. Every day, even in decades to come.
2. We look for donors for our new US chapter.
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 | 63 weeks ago Thomas Röhlinger updated this Competition Entry. |
| 64 weeks ago Thomas Röhlinger updated this Competition Entry. |
| 64 weeks ago Thomas Röhlinger submitted this idea. |
