Proposals for the safety of the online environment: the protection of our youth in the EU

When it comes to the Internet, the positions of the public opinion and of the press are extremely swinging. With every event of cyberbullying with a tragic outcome, episodes of self-harm and hate speech, the mainstream media generally sound alarms about the dangers of the Internet and social media.  In several cases parents are not really aware of how technology actually works and they worry about their children. This fuels a panic about the dangers of digital technology. Politicians scramble to find cheap solutions to these problems, to prevent these tragic events, and, unfortunately, more and more often end up looking for a technological solution to what is in fact a social and cultural problem.

The power of critical thinking in an online world

“Social media gives legions of imbeciles the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner”.

Be Internet Citizens online training

SALTO PI Awards- Young Digital Leaders

Young Digital Leaders Curriculum 2019

Young Digital Leaders is a Europe-wide programme, developed by ISD, and supported by Google.org, that aims to empower young people through digital citizenship, critical thinking and media literacy skills that reach beyond the classroom, so that they can be truly empowered as responsible digital leaders.

The Young Digital Leaders curriculum consists of five sessions targeted at students aged 12-15 years old. In line with the Council of Europe definition of digital citizenship, the curriculum aims to support students to: 

To achieve these aims, the curriculum offers session plans and guidance for five sessions: Critical Consumers, Resilient Citizens, Effective Communicators, Rights Experts and Digital Leaders. Across these five sessions, students will develop their knowledge of key concepts, the skills they need to identify online harms, the effective behaviours needed to interact respectfully, and the attitudes to play a positive role in the online community. 

The sessions can be adapted as needed by practitioners and are a fun, innovative and engaging way to help young people learn about digital citizenship and online leadership. This curriculum, in conjunction with the accompanying Digital Deck, provides all of the information and guidance needed to deliver the programme. 

Read and download: Curriculum (RO) - Curriculum (EN) - Digital Deck (EN)

Young Digital Leaders Parent Guide

As primary educators of your children, parents and carers are best positioned to have the greatest educational impact on their children. Getting parents and carers involved is paramount in order to ensure sustainable behavioural change of children, both offline and online, so this next generation of young adults paves the way for safer, more responsible uses of the internet.

Young Digital Leaders Impact Report 2019

Young Digital Leaders (YDL) is an educational programme aiming to empower young people across Europe through digital citizenship, critical thinking and media literacy.

Young Digital Leaders 2019 - Final Event

Young Digital Leaders is a Europe-wide programme that aims to empower young people through digital citizenship, critical thinking and media literacy skills that reach beyond the classroom, so that they can be truly empowered as responsible digital leaders. What started off with a meeting in Brussels in February this year ended with an event during which the partners presented their achievements, shared good practices and brainstormed together about the lessons learned and the road ahead.

Young Digital Leaders at the World Forum for Democracy

We showcased the Young Digital Leaders Project during the World Forum for Democracy, hosted by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Here's how we did and what guests wanted to know about our project.

WFD2019: “Is Democracy in danger in the information age?”

This year edition of the World Forum for Democracy (WFD)
will be hosted in Strasbourg, France on 6-8 November 2019

Our colleague, Adelina DRAGOMIR will join as a speaker during LAB 1 Human 2.0 : Youth and Digital Empowerment of the World Forum for Democracy, hosted by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg between 6th and 8th November 2019.

Săptămâna Cetățeniei Digitale / Digital Citizenship Week

RO: Săptămâna Cetățeniei Digitale (16-20 septembrie 2019) a adus în prim plan educația pentru cetățenie digitală prin 3 evenimente regionale organizate de către GEYC în parteneriat cu instituții de învățământ din cadrul proiectului Young Digital Leaders (YDL). Evenimentele au împărtășit rezultatele programului YDL la nivel regional prin conectarea acestei experiențe la posibile inițiative de continuare a integrării YDL în curriculum-ul școlar.

Comunicat de presă / Press release - Eveniment / Event Facebook

EN: Digital Citizenship Week (September 16-20, 2019) focused on the education for digital citizenship through 3 regional events organized by GEYC in partnership with educational institutions within the Young Digital Leaders (YDL) project. The events shared the results of the YDL program at the regional level by connecting this experience to possible initiatives to further integrate YDL into the school curriculum.

Celebrăm Ziua internațională a competențelor tinerilor prin publicarea listei centrelor "Young Digital Leaders"

Noi la GEYC credem în importanța parteneriatului dintre organizațiile societății civile, mediul privat, autorități publice și instituții de învățământ în formarea competențelor de care tinerii au nevoie pentru societatea de azi și de mâine. Astăzi, 15 iulie, celebrăm Ziua internațională a competențelor tinerilor (World Youth Skills Day) prin publicarea listei centrelor "Young Digital Leaders".

Presentation: "Fake news are only real because we think they are real" (Gabriel BREZOIU)

Our colleague, Gabriel Brezoiu, General Manager of GEYC is invited to speak about our initiatives in the field of fake news, youth participation and youth radicalisation during the Panel 4 of the event "How to better respond to European aspirations of the young generation in the Western Balkans?”, to be held in Bucharest on 28-29th of May 2019. The event is organized in the frame of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Înscrieri la cursurile de formare pentru cadre didactice în proiectul Young Digital Leaders

Deschidem oficial înscrierile pentru cursurile de formare a cadrelor didactice în contextul proiectului inițiat de Google.org, Young Digital Leaders. Aici găsiți formularul de înscriere și toate detaliile legate de locații, date și metodologie. 

A început proiectul „Young Digital Leaders”, Ediția II, o inițiativă Google.org și implementat de ISD (UK) și GEYC

RO: Echipa GEYC a dat startul activităților din cadrul proiectului „Young Digital Leaders” la Colegiul Național „Nichita Stănescu” din Ploiești. Proiectul a fost inițiat de Google.org și este coordonat de către ISD (UK) în parteneriat cu GEYC.

EN: The GEYC team kicked off the activities of the "Young Digital Leaders" project at ”Nichita Stănescu” National College in Ploieşti. The project was initiated by Google.org and is coordinated by ISD (UK) in partnership with GEYC.

Young Digital Leaders- second edition

RO: Pe 6 Februarie 2019, echipa noastra a fost in Bruxelles pentru intalnirea de inceput a celei de-a doua editii a Young Digital Leaders, o initiativa a carei faza pilot din Romania a avut loc la Oradea, in 2018.

EN: On February the 6th 2019, our team was in Brussels for the kick off meeting of the second edition of Young Digital Leaders, an initiative that had its Romanian pilot phase in Oradea, in 2018.

Young Digital Leaders Impact Report

Young Digital Leaders is a Europe-wide education pilot project aiming to empower young people through digital citizenship, critical thinking and media literacy skills, so that they can become tomorrow’s digital leaders.

"Young Digital Leaders" - closing event of the pilot phase

20th of June 2018, Brussels - We took part to the closure event of the pilot phase of "Young Digital Leaders" project initiated by Google (Brussels) together with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and led by GEYC in Romania.

Astăzi s-a lansat proiectul pilot „Young Digital Leaders”, coordonat de Google și ISD (UK)

Astăzi a avut loc lansarea proiectului pilot „Young Digital Leaders” la Colegiul Național „Emanuil Godju” din Oradea. Proiectul pilot „Young Digital Leaders” a fost inițiat de Google (Bruxelles) și este coordonat de către ISD (UK) în parteneriat cu GEYC. 

România se alătură inițiativei ”Young Digital Leaders” / Romania is now joining Young Digital Leaders

RO: Google și ISD sunt de părere că tinerii trebuie să joace un rol activ în a crea o comunitate online amuzantă, pozitivă și energică. Ne dorim să dezvoltăm competențele necesare pentru ca tinerii să facă cele mai bune decizii în mediul online. Ne referim astfel la a-i învăța cum să devină lideri digitali, nu doar niște simpli cetățeni -- să știe cum să răspundă troll-ilor din mediul online și când și unde să solicite ajutor.

EN: Google and ISD believe that young people should learn to be upstanders, not bystanders in order to create a fun, positive and vibrant community online. We want to equip young people with the necessary skills so that they can be empowered to make the right choices online. This means learning how to be a digital leader, not just citizen -- to know how to respond to trolls online, and when and where to go for help.