From Listening to Storytelling: The Journey of the DIGITAL STORY Project

How young people's voices helped shape an international Erasmus+ project connecting storytelling, heritage and youth participation

Over the past eighteen months, Teach Solais has been proud to be part of DIGITAL STORY: From Community Building to Youth Employability, an Erasmus+ partnership bringing together organisations from Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia and Italy to explore how storytelling and digital media can support young people to develop confidence, creativity and new skills.

While the project produced practical resources, training opportunities and digital stories, its journey began with something much simpler: listening.

Starting with Young People's Voices

Before creating guides or planning workshops, the project partners wanted to understand how young people already engage with stories, digital media and creative expression.

In Ireland, Teach Solais facilitated two focus groups with young people and a separate focus group with youth workers. These sessions formed an important part of the project's research phase and ensured that the voices of both young people and practitioners helped shape the work that followed.

The youth focus groups explored how young people engage with stories, digital media and creative content in their everyday lives. Participants discussed the types of stories they enjoy, the digital platforms they use, barriers that can prevent participation, and the kinds of activities they find most engaging. The discussions also explored what young people would like to learn through a digital storytelling programme and what support they need to feel confident sharing their ideas and experiences.

The youth and community worker focus group provided a different but equally valuable perspective. Practitioners reflected on how storytelling is currently used in youth work, the opportunities presented by digital tools, and the practical challenges involved in supporting young people to create and share stories. They also highlighted the importance of inclusion, accessibility, consent and safeguarding when working with personal stories and digital content.

Together, these conversations helped ensure that the DIGITAL STORY Guide was grounded in both lived experience and professional practice. Rather than making assumptions about what young people needed, the partnership was able to build resources and activities based on real feedback from the people who would ultimately use them.

Creating the DIGITAL STORY Guide

The insights gathered through the focus groups helped shape the next major phase of the project: the development of the DIGITAL STORY Guide.

Working collaboratively across four countries, partners developed a practical resource designed to help young people explore storytelling in creative, accessible and meaningful ways. The guide was built around four core themes:

• How to Tell a Story

• Audience

• Digital Storytelling

• Ethics of the Story

  
  

Over many months, partners reviewed content, shared ideas, refined activities and tested approaches to ensure the guide would be relevant for a wide range of young people and youth work settings.

The result was a resource that goes beyond technical skills. The guide encourages young people to explore identity, culture, heritage and community while developing communication, creativity and critical thinking skills.

Bringing the Methodology to Life in Ballyjamesduff

One of the most exciting milestones in the project came in August 2025 when Teach Solais welcomed project partners to Ballyjamesduff for an international Training Course for Youth Workers.

For three days, participants from Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia and Italy came together to experience the DIGITAL STORY methodology first-hand.

Each partner organisation facilitated sessions based on the four project modules, creating a rich learning environment where participants could share perspectives, test activities and learn from one another. Rather than simply reading the guide, participants actively engaged in discussions, practical exercises, group activities and reflection sessions designed to bring the methodology to life.

The training explored how stories are structured, how audiences influence storytelling choices, how digital tools can support creative expression and how ethical considerations should shape the stories we choose to tell.

A particular highlight was the Ethics of the Story session facilitated by Teach Solais. Participants explored topics including consent, representation, cultural context, digital permanence and responsibility in storytelling. Through discussion and creative exercises, they examined how stories can influence perceptions and why it is important to approach storytelling with care, empathy and awareness.

Connecting Storytelling with Heritage

Throughout the project, storytelling was closely linked to place, identity and community.

During the training course, participants took part in a local heritage walk through Ballyjamesduff and later visited Cavan County Museum for an interactive story-sharing session.

These experiences encouraged participants to think about the stories that exist within every community. Local history is not only found in archives and museum displays. It also lives in personal memories, traditions, landmarks and shared experiences.

For many participants, the visit highlighted how storytelling can help preserve heritage while also helping young people develop a stronger connection to their local communities.

Supporting Young People to Create Their Own Stories

Following the training course, the project moved into its most important phase: working directly with young people.

Using the DIGITAL STORY methodology and guide, Teach Solais delivered workshops with Bounce Back Youth Service.

Through a series of creative activities, participants explored storytelling, audience awareness, digital media techniques, and ethical considerations in storytelling. Young people were encouraged to reflect on themes including identity, heritage, community and belonging while developing practical digital storytelling skills.

What emerged was a collection of creative responses that demonstrated the power of giving young people the space and tools to share their perspectives.

Across the Irish implementation activities, more than thirty young people participated in workshops and developed new skills in storytelling and digital media. Through the Bounce Back programme, participants completed four digital stories exploring themes connected to heritage, identity and community.

The workshops demonstrated that storytelling can be much more than a creative exercise. It can help young people build confidence, strengthen communication skills and develop a greater understanding of themselves and the communities around them.

Sharing Learning Across Europe

The final stage of the project brought partners together once again in Lithuania for the international DIGITAL STORY conference.

The conference provided an opportunity to share project results, showcase examples of youth work practice and reflect on the lessons learned throughout the partnership. Teach Solais presented Ireland's contribution to the project, highlighting the experiences of local participants and the digital stories developed through the workshops.

The event also provided space to explore how the DIGITAL STORY methodology could continue to be used beyond the lifetime of the project, ensuring that the resources and learning developed over eighteen months continue to benefit young people and youth workers in the future.

Looking Back

Looking back, DIGITAL STORY was about much more than creating a guide or delivering a series of workshops.

It was about listening to young people, learning from communities, building international partnerships and exploring how stories can help us understand ourselves and each other.

From focus groups in Ireland to workshops with young people, from training sessions in Ballyjamesduff to the final conference in Lithuania, the project demonstrated the power of storytelling to connect people, preserve heritage and encourage participation.

Teach Solais is proud to have been part of this journey and grateful to all of the partners, youth workers and young people who helped bring the project to life.

Most importantly, the project leaves behind something that will continue long after the funding period has ended: a collection of resources, ideas and experiences that can help future generations of young people discover the value of their own stories.