Peer to Peer (P2P): Challenging Extremism and Facebook Global Digital Challenge programmes

EdVenture Partners (EVP)

EdVenture Partners (EVP) is an organisation dedicated to developing innovative industry–education partnership programmes. These experiential learning opportunities provide students with hands-on, real-world experience, while clients can take advantage of social impact and community outreach solutions and recruiting access at colleges, universities and high schools. EdVenture Partners has designed and managed programmes at over 900 schools in North America and internationally.

EdVenture Partners is a for-profit organisation that is compensated for programme development and programme management through the deployment of a mutually agreed contract and statement of work with its clients.

Type of Organisation: For profit

The programmes 'Peer to Peer (P2P): Challenging Extremism' and 'Peer to Peer: Facebook Global Digital Challenge' are global university youth initiatives and international competitions that harness the power of student innovation to challenge prejudice, online hate and extremism.

Given the rising prevalence of Russian aggression, disinformation and propaganda in western democracies, Facebook has opened the aperture of programme objectives to include this new focus as objectives for student teams to address in their respective communities and countries.

University students from around the world develop campaigns and social media strategies against extremism and disinformation that are credible, authentic and believable to their peers, and that resonate within their communities.

A team of students, guided by their professor and an EdVenture Partners' Project Specialist, will develop and produce a real campaign that has measurable impact on their campus and in the community. The teams will research their target market and create a strategy designed to best reach and influence their peers.

Each team receives an operational budget of USD 1 000 (USD equivalency) plus USD 750 in Facebook ad credits to design, pilot, implement and measure the success of a social or digital initiative, product or tool that:

• motivates or empowers students to become involved in countering hateful and extremist narratives;
• mobilises and inspires other students to create their own initiatives, products or tools that counter hateful and extremist narratives;
• builds a network/community of interest based on shared values that counters hateful and extremist narratives through action.

The teams work on their campaigns for the duration of one semester: at the end of the semester, the top teams compete in regional and local competitions for prizes ranging from USD 5 000 to USD 10 000.

• At the end of the semester, each team of students delivers digital resources from their campaigns, including (but not limited to) the following creative materials:
  • original websites and social media pages
  • mobile apps or games
  • original educational videos and curriculums
  • digital ads or brochures
  • photo or video archives of cultural activities
  • community-based or campus movement events.

• Outstanding P2P campaigns have been amplified and used as case studies on Facebook's global counter-speech website.

• Look book.

• Peer to Peer video compilation.

• Website.

• Sample student work from:
  • KU Leuven, Belgium;
  • Middle East Technical University, Turkey;
  • University of Lagos, Nigeria;
  • Utrecht University, Netherlands;
  • Turku University of Economics;
  • Lahore University of Management Sciences.

• Sample press articles and videos:
  • New York Times article;
  • CNNMoney video;
  • PBS NewsHour video and transcript;
  • NPR radio transcript;
  • Wall Street Journal article.

Address

EdVenture Partners (EVP)

Contact person: Tony Sgro, Founder and CEO
Telephone: (+11) 415 264 7666
tonyedventurepartners [dot] com (Email) | Website