This is also reflected in the statement of a young partici - pant who said he preferred online interaction to offline. As he explained, “Firstly, it’s your home, it’s comfortable. It’s warm and it’s great, you can just sit in the kitchen, your room and talking in comfortable atmosphere.” (Participant, group discussion) While some barriers to access are removed, new forms of disadvantage arise. • The project reports and interviews suggest that di - gital projects put young people at a disadvantage who have few or no financial means and hence cannot afford the technical equipment they need to take part in a digital project. • Interviewees also cited other negative factors, such as unstable internet connections or a lack of privacy. Because of these, some young people are unable to participate in digital activities at all or (have to) drop out over the course of a project. • When it comes to the inclusivity of online formats, it emerged that there are no suitable software solu - tions and no methods to incorporate said solutions that would enable young people with hearing or visual impairments to take part in a digital project. In other words, the study shows that the implemen - tation of digital elements removes certain barriers to access and opens up new target groups. However, new forms of disadvantage arise that exclude certain groups from participating. These disadvantages need to be addressed. Another insight is that the (new) potential for parti - cipation that results from the use of online tools is not always fully lifted. On the one hand, the opportu - nity to involve the young participants in designing some or all of the programme was utilised. Many project re - ports mentioned the fact that everyone involved atten - ded online preparation meetings and contributed input to the project. For instance, the participants weighed in on scheduling, the design of certain activities or helped prepare an in-person meeting. In theory, though, the use of online tools enables a large variety of other forms of participation, such as contributions from those par - ticipants who have media skills and expertise of their own. However, in practice, none of the insights gained during elements I and II of the study suggest that these
opportunities were used. In some projects, participants were asked to state their preferred online tools for the project, however there is no indication that they were invited to make an active contribution to the project using said tools (which would have allowed them to put their skills to good use). It also became clear that voluntariness – a principle fundamental to open child and youth work – poses a challenge in digital settings. Some project reports and interviews suggested that some participants failed to attend some or even all of the online sessions, or that they turned up but did not switch on their cameras and microphones and hence appeared as if absent. It also emerged that even the use of familiar communication channels did not necessarily elicit more active partici - pation. For instance, a WhatsApp group was set up for one project but the participants barely used it. This is vital because a lack of interaction in online settings has a knock-on negative effect on the motivation levels of the active participants. As one participant expressed it, „And I also found confusing that the participant‘s number changed on the country A side so much, because I felt like, okay, why shall I get to know you if there‘s a possibility that you won‘t be there when we really meet? Or we might not really work toge - ther, why shall I like put the energy into it?” (partici - pant, group discussion) It appears that the agenda needs to be designed and structured in such a way that the young participants feel motivated and invited to play an active role. Preference should be given to interactive and varied methods that encourage participants to engage in a lively dialogue both during the online sessions and in between. 3.3 Communication and interaction In regard to communication and interaction in online settings, the research team asked the following ques - tions: • Do the projects use online tools to obtain easy in - sights into participants’ lives? • Are the identified theoretical challenges around communication, e.g., getting to know the partner culture in online settings, confirmed in practice? • How do informal interactions and group dynamics evolve in online settings? • To what extent can the young participants commu - nicate successfully?
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