We’re delighted to launch our Include Plus Fellowship project. The purpose of the fellowship is to understand where there is genuine alignment between youth work and the tech sector, identify opportunities for ethical collaboration, and develop practical guidance that helps youth work organisations assess and navigate potential partnerships with confidence and integrity.
Alex Hutchison of Forr Data will work with YouthLink Scotland to lead this work over the next 6 months.
Alex says: “I’m thrilled to be working with YouthLink Scotland and INCLUDE+ on a project that sits right at the intersection of young people, ethical innovation, and strategic collaboration. The opportunity to lead the development of guidelines for the Youth Work Sector on forming ethical partnerships with the Technology Sector feels both timely and important. As digital tools increasingly shape how young people connect and learn, it’s vital that youth work organisations feel equipped to engage with tech companies in ways that uphold their values.
“Forr Data has a strong thread of collaboration running through its ethos, so the opportunity to use co-creation methods to build pragmatic tools for these diverse sectors is very exciting. YouthLink Scotland’s deep youth work sector knowledge and INCLUDE+’s commitment to participatory research create a powerful foundation for building something that’s not only practical and robust but also is routed in principles. Together, we’re aiming to produce guidance that challenges power imbalances, prioritises reflective practice, and ensures that partnerships with the technology sector genuinely serve young people. It’s a privilege to help shape outputs that aim to strengthen trust, transparency, and have impact across both sectors.”
Dr Alicja Pawluczuk, INCLUDE+ Research Fellow and the Founder of the Digital Youth Work Research Hub at the University of Leeds said,
“As someone who has been involved in digital youth work research for over a decade, I am really excited to see this fellowship taking place within the INCLUDE+ network. For us, it’s important to work with young people in meaningful ways while also acknowledging the nuanced, messy, and often unpredictable realities of digital equity.
“In my previous research I’ve explored the ‘grey zone’ where youth workers need the support of companies, and companies are keen to contribute to social change — and I believe this fellowship is a crucial step in bringing those worlds closer together. We will also be aligning this work within the Digital Youth Work Research Hub, providing insights and recommendations to the wider field, which is in urgent need of greater recognition, resources, and funding.
I’m delighted to have Alex involved in leading this process, and I look forward to the new conversations, connections, and contributions this fellowship will make make.”
As the project develops we aim to consult with both the tech sector, the youthwork sector and listen to what young people think is important. If you are interested in being directly involved in this work. Please contact Hilary Phillips.
The fellowship is funded by INCLUDE+, a network exploring how social and digital environments can be built, shaped and sustained to enable all people to thrive. The five-year programme of activities (2022-2027) will build a knowledge community around in/equalities in digital society that will comprise industry, academia, the public and third sectors in response to the UKRI Equitable Digital Society theme.
YouthLink Scotland has worked with Include+ on digital inclusion projects: Our futures and AI and Digital Game Design and Youth Work.