Digital Participation through Social Living Labs connects two largely separate debates: On the one hand, high speed internet access and associated technologies are often heralded as a means to bring about not only connectivity, but also innovation, economic development, new jobs, and regional prosperity. On the other hand, community development research has established that access by itself is necessary but not sufficient to foster digital participation for the broadest possible range of individuals. Edited by leading scholars from the fields of education, youth studies, urban informatics, librarianship, communication technology, and digital media studies, this book is positioned as a link to connect these debates. It brings together an international collection of empirically grounded case studies by researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. They advance knowledge that fosters digital participation by identifying the specific digital needs, issues and practices of different types of communities as they seek to take advantage of access to digital technologies. Collectively, these cases propose new ways for enabling residents to develop their digital confidence and skills both at home and in their local community, particularly through a 'social living labs' approach. The book is organised around key focus areas: digital skills enhancement, youth entrepreneurship, connected learning, community digital storytelling, community-led digital initiatives and policy development.

By examining the cultural spaces occupied by youth--spaces represented in texts produced for youth, about youth, and in some cases by youth--contributors to this volume present challenging ways of applying critical ideas and theoretical frameworks to the crucial issues that surround youth and the cultures they inhabit as evidenced in their literature, magazines, computer games, films, television programs, popular music, and fashion. Many of the writers in this unique new collection write from provocative standpoints drawing on film and feminist theory, psychoanalytic criticism, semiotics, and literary theory, providing useful ways of thinking about the issues, texts, and practices that circulate within youth cultures, indicating their underlying tensions and contradictions.

Providing a cross-cultural analysis of these texts, "Youth Cultures" provides scope for a wide readership open to unorthodox readings and bold interpretations. Many of the writers in this unique new collection write from provocative standpoints drawing on film and feminist theory, psychoanalytic criticism, semiotics, and literary theory, providing useful ways of thinking about the issues, texts, and practices that circulate within youth cultures, indicating their underlying tensions and contradictions.