Project title: "Be Well and Green when Digital - BeWEEN".

Project team/partners: Erasmus+ BeWEEN.

Project team in Vienna: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Arnd Florack, Teresa Koch, BSc. MSc., Niklas Pivecka, BSc., MSc., Martin Egger, BSc., MSc., Meike Huefnagels, BSc.

Project partners: University of Vienna - Austria, Future Needs Management Consulting Ltd. - Cyprus, National Technical University of Athens - Greece, Centre of technical culture - Rijeka, Croatia and Centre for peace, nonviolence and human rights – Osijek, Croatia.

Institute/Department: Department of Occupational, Economic and Social Psychology.

Goal of the project: This project is about "protecting health and well-being" in the digital context for schools. These competencies are included in the EU framework for digital competency (DigComp), but are not sufficiently addressed in school curricula. The aim is to provide teachers and students with competencies that equip them for a healthier and more responsible use of digital technology.

Why is this important? Digital communication technologies play an important role in the lives of children and young people. In this project, strategies are developed in collaboration with teachers to strengthen the digital maturity of young people and promote efficient and beneficial use of digital media.

Abstract: Children and young people make extensive use of digital communication technologies. Studies have shown that unfavorable use of these technologies can have negative effects on children's well-being and development. However, digital technologies also open up opportunities for positive experiences and development. Studies at the University of Vienna show that young people with higher digital maturity can use digital technologies in a more positive way. In the BeWEEN project, researchers at the University of Vienna work with teachers, who are learning about the concept of digital maturity in a specially developed training program. Subsequently, approaches are developed with teachers regarding how the digital maturity of students can be strengthened. The goal is to protect and strengthen the health and well-being of students in the digital world.

Explanation - easy to understand: Children and young people often use digital technologies like smartphones or tablets. Scientists have found that digital media are bad for children's health. For example, some children use smartphones so much that they can no longer put them away and then get too little sleep. However, digital media can also be very helpful and fun for children. In the BeWEEN research project, we want to find out how children can use digital media so that it is good for them. The goal is for children to achieve digital maturity and thus strengthen their health and well-being.

Links: Project homepage: https://www.beween.eu/ 
Social Psychology: https://soko-psy.univie.ac.at/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SozialpsychologieUniWien