Telling Otherwise: Training Youth Workers for LGBTQIA+ Storytelling in the Queer Media Education Framework

Salvatore Messina, Marika Mascitti

Abstract


This article examines the ECHOES train-the-trainers programme, a 60-hour Erasmus+ training course for 16 youth workers designed to integrate digital storytelling, algorithmic and AI literacy, and queer affective care for working with LGBTIQA+ young people. Drawing on the Queer Media Education framework (Messina, 2025) and its Q.U.A.K.E. dimensions, the study describes the co-design of the curriculum, the construction of the ECHOES competence tool, and the descriptive pre-post evidence collected during implementation. Results suggest stronger perceived competences in media production, facilitation, advocacy and post-publication care, while AI-related management remains more fragile. The article argues that in algorithmic publics, digital storytelling cannot end with publication: youth workers need to accompany visibility, backlash, consent, interpretation, and persistence

Keywords


Queer Media Education; youth work; digital storytelling; AI literacy; LGBTIQA+ advocacy

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32043/gsd.v10i4.1852

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