The Academy brings together different forms of knowledge to develop and strengthen people’s ‘voices’. Through research (academic, journalistic, or artistic) Voice4Thought enables young people to create a better understanding of their environment and develop a critical eye. The resulting knowledge productions – including blogs, (audio)visual productions, podcasts, theater, slam art – are shared with a wider audience for the purpose of meaningful exchange.
The Academy has contributed to Leiden University’s curriculum by developing the Innovative Research Methods website, and setting up the Skills Hub.
In 2020, the Voice4Thought Academy (V4TA) in Mali was set up. Within the Academy, the youth engages with issues they consider important in their living environment. The Academy empowers them with skills that increase their agency within their communities – especially to play a role in local decision-making processes that they are often not (considered to be) part of. The Academy Mali operates in the regions of Bankass, Bandiagara, Bougouni, Douentza, Macina, Ségou, Timbouctou, Gao, Niono and San. Visit the (French) website via this link.
V4T Academy Mali is part of the PGLR+ program, carrried out by the consortium of SNV, Oxfam Novib, and ICCO/Cordaid and Voice4Thought, funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Mali.
The Academy is always evolving. We aim to set up Academies in other parts of the Sahel and in the rest of the world.
The V4T Archive
The V4T Archive contains data collections from Voice4Thought’s various projects and programmes, which can be consulted by researchers, journalists, and students. Most of the archive is not publicly accessible, but parts of it can be accessed through public sites such as v4tacademie.org on which selected data from V4TA Mali are shared.
Other activities
The Academy is also involved in other activities.
Project Djonya Kele Ja Toulon (Gamers against slavery in Mali) – a project that focuses on ‘inherited slavery’ which in some areas of Mali is still a practice, although it’s a taboo and a difficult subject. Find out more.
In Chad, Voice4Thought sets up workshops with Chadian bloggers to co-create depolarising stories. This small scale project has the potential to grow, aiming to reach more storytellers to increase its impact in Chadian media.
