New Academy of Activism

national | miscellaneous | press release Wednesday June 23, 2010 09:27 by Volunteer - SpunOut.ie

We are delighted to announce SpunOut.ie’s first ever Academy of Activism. This is a practical, free of charge training opportunity that will be offered to twelve lucky young people who want to learn how to make a difference in today’s changing world.

The SpunOut.ie team, with the support of the NUIG Huston School of Film & Digital Media (who are hosts to Ireland's first ever Masters level Course in Public Activism) have lined up an exciting jam packed programme for this innovative ‘Academy of Activism’.

Using a panel of guests with first-hand experience of leading media, campaigning and social change organisations (Amnesty International / The Huston School of Film & Digital Media / The Irish Times) we will be giving participants the chance to question and learn from these experts in interactive discussion sessions. The course will be practical and tailor made to equip participants with the skills and confidence to set about working for positive social change in their communities. Included in this will be a session during which participants get to engage directly with politicians from across the political spectrum.

Speaking on the motivation behind this initiative SpunOut.ie’s CEO and Founder Ruairí Mc Kiernan pointed out;

‘Ireland is at a crossroads at the moment. With youth unemployment rate of around 30% and up to 1000 people emigrating each week, many young people feel lost, frustrated and angry. SpunOut.ie has over 5 years experience in working with young people throughout the country and is currently reaching over 1,000 people online each day. We believe that there is an urgent necessity to channel the positive skills, talents, creativity and energy of our young people so they can be allowed play their part in transforming Irish society for the better. Our Academy of Activism has been designed based on consultation with young people and campaign experts in Ireland and abroad. It aims to create civic space for young people to engage with the issues that affect them whilst becoming more informed, resourced, confident and inspired to take action for social justice on the issues that they are passionate about.

The weekend’s seminars will cover topics including media, social networking, campaigns planning, lobbying and motivation. It will be facilitated by Ruairí McKiernan and Sarah Clancy, who both bring with them years of experience in community and campaign development work. Sarah is an experienced campaigner who holds an MA in Activism from NUIG and was formerly Western Region Campaigns Officer for Amnesty International. Ruairí is a Founder of SpunOut.ie, which is a pioneering and multi-award winning youth empowerment organisation reaching hundreds of thousands of people per year. SpunOut.ie is supported by The Atlantic Philanthropies - www.atlanticphilanthropies.org .

Applications are now open and can be completed on line at www.SpunOut.ie The closing date for receipt of completed applications is JULY 19th 2010