A central aspect of the future of civic media is the induction of younger generations into the front lines of civic engagement. Numerous civic-minded organizations around the world exist in which training young people to work in this space is a top priority. An example of such an organization is the Washington-based Advocacy Project.

The Advocacy Project is an organization committed to supporting community-based initiatives by helping to integrate civic media technologies into their efforts. The initiatives they choose to support are largely geared to representing the cause of disempowered constituencies. Recent work done by the organization includes helping set up a community radio program in Nepal to further the participation of indigenous and minority populations in the Nepalese electoral process.

The Fellows for Peace program is a key part of the Advocacy Project. Each year, the group appoints a number of graduate students as Fellows under this program, and trains them in their Washington office. Once the training is complete, the students are sent out into the field to work with the various partner communities to develop and integrate sustainable technological resource systems that will serve the cause of civic engagement in the area. The students also blog from their assigned communities, writing about the issues they are helping deal with and the problems faced by the local populace. The aforementioned radio program in Nepal was set up with the help of Tassos Coulaloglou, one of the AP’s 2007 Fellows, who also traveled around Nepal and blogged about minority issues. With the support of the AP, Baglung FM now transmits to nine districts in Nepal, helping marginalized groups fully comprehend the country’s complicated electoral process.

These graduate students find themselves engaging in a two-way process. Their technical skills are appropriated by the communities in which they volunteer, and they benefit from the interaction with veteran activists and social workers who share the field experience that they lacked. The hoped for result is the inculcation of a permanent spirit of civic engagement in these students, combined with the practical abilities and experience they need to do the best work they can in the communities that need it.