What are the concrete objectives you would like to achieve and 'outcomes or results you would like to realise'? How are these objectives linked to the priorities you have selected?
The DIsinformation of SEniors in Rural Areas (DISERA) project aims at improving the media literacy of rural adult and senior man and women in Italy, Ireland, Slovakia and Republic of North Macedonia through awareness-raising on disinformation, capacity-building on digital skills and promotion of critical thinking to access, recognize and act on information. This project will contribute to promoting intergenerational inclusion, bridging the rural-urban divide and strengthening European values and citizenship in rural communities.
The project pursues the following specific objectives:
Strengthen the capacity of partner organizations to work transnationally focusing on media literacy within the rural adult and senior population;
Raise awareness of the problem and consequences of disinformation in European rural communities;
Strengthen relevant digital skills in the rural adult and senior population to access news, analyses content and recognize disinformation;
Bring the European dimension to people living in rural areas to ensure project sustainability and impact. Thanks to the project, a more aware rural adult and senior population of disinformation with stronger digital skills will be able to sort through information and choose how to better informed themselves. In addition, beneficiaries from Italy, Slovakia, Ireland and North Macedonia who took part in international training and digital skills workshops comprehend the importance of the European Union and feel a sense of belonging to the wider European community.
At the end of the project, participating organizations effectively cooperate at the transnational level and have proven their capacity to address educational needs of adults and seniors in rural areas.
The project directly contributes to creating and promoting learning opportunities among all citizens and generations, a specific priority in the field of adult education. Awareness-raising and training activities are aimed at adult and seniors in rural areas, with a view to building and strengthening European identity. DISERA also addresses two Erasmus+ horizontal priorities - inclusion and diversity in training and digital transformation.
On the one hand, it involves innovative learning opportunities to better outreach rural adult and senior populations who have usually fewer opportunities and face obstacles to participate in European Projects. Therefore, the project sets out accessible and inclusive activities such as a radio broadcasting course and training in senior centers and cafes in rural areas. DISERA also promotes digital transformation of rural communities through capacity-building on basic digital skills and literacy that beneficiaries need in their daily lives to access information. At the same time, partner organizations will make use of a combination of virtual cooperation and physical mobility, as well as use of communication and technology tool to plan, implement and disseminate project activities.
What will be the benefits of cooperating with transnational partners to achieve the project objectives ?
Transnational cooperation is beneficial to achieve the project objectives for different reasons. First of all, disinformation and information silos that lead to Euroscepticism arise in isolated and rural communities because they lack opportunities to share common experiences with other European towns. This project would allow beneficiaries to discover different viewpoints and challenge one’s beliefs and prejudices. Hence, the creation of this small-cooperation partnership itself with partners from four different European countries is the first step to achieve the project objectives. Beneficiaries can experience European cooperation in their daily activities which can change their perspective when it comes to sort through information and news. Second, the project partners come from countries that experience different levels of disinformation awareness and ability of discerning news from false information.
How was the partnership formed? What are the strengths that each partner will bring to the project?
The main criteria chosen for the formation of this partnership are to have experience on the topic of disinformation and media literacy, with adults or seniors, based or operating in rural areas, capacity of dissemination of results and good practices.
EurAv is based in County Meath, a rural county neighbouring Dublin. It is a member of Working Group of Media Literacy Ireland and is led by socially-minded creative and media professionals, and has a strong command over the areas of the project. In particular, it has been involved in developing community media training as a way to combat disinformation. This training has involved practical ways to make low-budget social media memes, video clips and edited photos, which is a way to attract participants, but it is then linked to training in media literacy - how to fact-check for those receiving information and, importantly, how to recognize individual responsibility in ensuring the accuracy of information that it is shared.
With elderly people, EurAV has supported initiatives where they are taken through the different social media platforms and shown how to use them safely, while being trained on digital responsibility in information access and sharing. PYC, based in a small town in Slovakia, has experience mainly with the training of seniors through online seminars or educational activities at the level of senior organizations operating in their rural region. Their trainers are young people who know how to work better with the Internet and information as well as can better distinguish for example fake news and deep fakes.
Moreover, PYC, Slovakia has the ability of disseminate the results of the project in the form of training, seminars, online conferences, also through teaching activities at Universities for Seniors in Slovakia, where we they also lecturers.
EKE Bitola, from the rural town of Bitola, has built relations with professionals from the field of disinformation and fake news including local and national journalists engaged in non-profit sector activities and it is a trusted partner of New Horizons. In particular, they implement their mission through organizing educational training courses, exchanges/mobilities and volunteering opportunities locally and internationally. On a local level, they promote civic engagement by supporting local initiatives coming from the citizens and other associations.
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