Media Literacy Network Charter


1. Introduction

In the framework of the Team Up! – Media for Adult Education project, funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union, the partners decided to develop a charter. This Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Network Charter outlines the purpose, scope, and guidelines for a collaborative network aimed at promoting Media and Information Literacy, information literacy, and critical thinking skills. This network seeks to develop MIL experts’ skills, as well as to empower MIL enthusiasts to navigate the complex media landscape, critically analyze information, and become responsible consumers and creators of media.


2. Objectives

  • Foster Collaboration: Facilitate collaboration among network partners and MIL enthusiasts to collectively address the challenges and opportunities in the field of media and information literacy.
  • Knowledge Sharing: Promote the exchange of best practices, research findings, resources, and innovative approaches to enhance MIL education and advocacy.
  • Capacity Building: Support the professional development and capacity building of network members through training, workshops, conferences, and mentoring programs.
  • Awareness and Advocacy: Raise awareness about the importance of media and information literacy, advocate for its integration into educational curricula, especially targeting adults, and promote policies that support MIL initiatives.
  • Collaboration with Stakeholders: Collaborate with media organizations, educational institutions, NGOs, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders to advance MIL goals on a broader scale.

3. Membership

  • Eligibility: Membership in the network is open to all individuals, organizations, institutions, organizations promoting and pursuing democratic values and combating discrimination and hate speech online, and initiatives actively engaged in promoting media and information literacy.
  • MIL Enthusiasts: Individuals who are passionate about MIL but may not be affiliated to an organization or institution are encouraged to join as independent members.
  • Active Participation: Members are expected to actively participate in network activities, contribute to discussions, share knowledge and experiences, and support the network’s objectives.

4. Network Communication

ERIM is the coordinator responsible for facilitating communication and coordination among network members:

  • Each partner communicates about the project and/or MIL with at least one post per month on their own social media. The project graphic charter will be used for these posts. 
  • Promote and utilize existing content and work from other initiatives to leverage resources effectively, also by relaunching them through social media like Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook, etc.
  • Promote and utilize the hashtag #Mediaforinclusion to enhance the visibility and reach of the network’s activities.
  • A mailing list to send updates and announcements, including at least one annual webinar and additional events as deemed relevant.
  • Share network activities and events on the network’s website.
  • Encourage all partners to share regular updates on their individual initiatives and projects to foster collaboration within the network.
  • Further disseminate Team Up! outputs by the means of other related projects’ activities and multiplier events.

5. Governance and Decision-making

  • Consensus building: Decisions within the network will be made through a collaborative process, aiming to reach a consensus among members.
  • Transparent decision-making: The network leadership will ensure transparency in decision-making processes, providing opportunities for members to voice their opinions and concerns.
  • In case of conflict, ERIM, who is leading the network, will have the final word.

6. Amendments and Review

  • Charter Updates: The network charter will be reviewed periodically to ensure its relevance and alignment with evolving MIL goals and challenges, also in relation to each partner’s plans and strategic priorities.
  • Change Proposal: Proposed changes to the charter can be submitted by network members and will be evaluated by the project Partners for approval and implementation.

By signing this charter, all network partners and MIL enthusiasts will uphold its principles and actively engage in network activities. This network will keep aiming to create a vibrant and collaborative environment that supports the advancement of media literacy, facilitates knowledge exchange, and contributes to the inclusion and empowerment of individuals and communities.


The network is open to new members! You can contact mpico@erim.ngo if you want to join. And if you want to be updated on the latest Media and Information Literacy news, you can fill this form! 

Célébrons l’EMI à Lyon !

Le projet Team Up! – Media for Adult Education, financé par le programme Erasmus+ de l’Union européenne, vise à promouvoir l’éducation aux médias et à l’information (EMI) auprès des adultes via la création de vidéos. Pour permettre au plus grand nombre de développer des connaissances en EMI et de comprendre l’ensemble des éléments que ce thème sous-tend, un événement de célébration de l’EMI est organisé à Lyon !

Cet événement est célébré durant la Semaine mondiale de l’éducation aux médias et à l’information organisée par l’UNESCO.   L’événement aura lieu à Lyon, le 18 octobre 2023, sur la place des Célestins. Tout au long de l’après-midi, nous présenterons de manière dynamique les outils et ressources développés dans le cadre du projet “Team Up!” et destinés à tous les adultes. .. Attendez-vous à des vidéos captivantes, des quiz interactifs et des courtes présentations pratiques !  

Organisé en parallèle du Festival International Sens Interdits, cette journée de célébration permet de mettre l’EMI en résonnance avec les histoires d’artistes internationaux engagés.

L’événement est ouvert à toutes et tous, que vous soyez étudiant/e, enseignant/e, éducateur/trice, professionnel/le des médias ou simplement curieux/se !  

Pendant cet événement, vous participerez à des présentations dynamiques sur l’éducation aux médias et à l’information, un jeu ludique avec des opportunités de gagner des prix, ainsi que des courtes vidéos sur les droits des femmes, accompagnées de témoignages de ceux qui ont contribué à leur création. Afin de favoriser l’échange, la compréhension et la participation de l’ensemble des participants à cet événement final, nous vous présentons ce document résumant les points essentiels de notre réunion, disponible en 7 langues européennes : français, anglais, portugais, grec, italien, allemand et espagnol.

TUP_Closing-event_FR-2Download
TUP_Closing-event_PT-2Download
TUP_Closing-event_ESP-1Download
TUP_Closing-event_GER-1Download
TUP_Closing-event_ENDownload
TUP_Closing-agenda_ITDownload
TUP_Closing-meeting_GRDownload

Call for participation to a Media and Information Literacy workshop

Team Up! is a cross-European project aimed at fostering adults’ digital and Media and Information Literacy (MIL) and producing media and digital tools in Southern Europe. This project is a collaboration between 4 partner organizations from 4 European countries (KARPOS in Greece, Forma.AZIONE in Italy, ERIM in France and 4Change in Portugal), who are experts in media literacy and media education.

Presentation of the training
This training is intended for educators, librarians and teachers, especially those working with adults. The training will be held in person and will focus on the development of MIL skills through the creation of media productions (podcasts, videos, photography).
At the end of this training, you will have the opportunity to implement MIL training for your group, with the support of MIL experts.

  • Location of the training: Perugia (Italy), Athens (Greece), Lyon (France) and Lisbon (Portugal)
  • Duration of the workshop: 20 hours per country, spread out from September to November 2022, at times adapted to the needs and availability of the groups.
  • Participation in the training is free and all costs related to the training will be covered by the implementing organisations
  • Total number of training participants: 40 per country

Why should you attend this training?
The sources of information have never been so numerous. Citizens face an endless stream of news whose relevance and reliability are difficult to judge. This training aims to raise awareness of these issues.
During the training, a theoretical introduction to media literacy and information will be carried out. The practical part will then follow, with the objective of acquiring all the knowledge necessary for the production of a media product (video, podcast, photo exhibition, etc.) in order to ultimately produce one, with the support of EMI experts.
The topics covered in the training revolve around three main themes: hate speech in the media, gender in the media and migration in the media.

And after the training? You will have acquired enough MIL knowledge and facilitation skills to organize training on this topic for your audience, with the support of the trainers.

MIL Challenges and Prizes
During the training, two international challenges will be launched between participants from France, Greece, Portugal and Italy on the topics of hate speech, discrimination and gender equality. Both of these competitions will allow you to work on MIL, further developing your media production skills.

Following the first challenge, 6 trainers per country will travel, with ERIM experts, to Lisbon in June 2023 to participate in the MIL’athon, a learning-by-doing experience based on group work, which will bring together trainers across France, Greece, Portugal and Italy, and which will promote the exchange of experiences and good practices. Trainers will be chosen based on their involvement in the training as well as the evaluation of their media product produced during the competition.
Following the second challenge: 3 winners per country will be offered prizes related to media production.

After the training, you will be able to:

  • Master the media landscape (the different media and their roles)
  • Master key notions related to information (in particular through the verification of sources)
  • Have concrete tools to identify disinformation and information manipulation techniques
  • Create your own media content (videos, podcasts, photographs, etc.)
  • Addressing hate speech and promoting responsible attitudes
  • Understand representation in media, different genres, forms and basic narrative approaches
  • Safely navigate the digital space

Participation criteria

  • Participate in the whole training (organized between September and November 2022, at times adapted to the needs and availability of the groups);
  • Motivated to learn more about MIL and media production;
  • Be a teacher, librarian or educator working with adults.

If you need more information and want to participate in the training, don’t hesitate to contact the organization implementing the workshop in your country:

Announcing Speak Up Photo Competition Winners!

4th November 2021 in Lyon – We are delighted to announce the 4 winners of the “Speak Up Photo Competition”: Lana, Catherine, Khatireh and Alan… Congratulations!

Taking place from May to September 2021 online, the Speak Up! competition invited young newly arrived migrants in European countries to submit one or more shots meeting the theme of #livingtogether. 36 pictures were submitted with a preselection of 17 meeting the competition criteria. You can see them here!

The four winners will receive their prizes (500€) during the Speak Up Media Festivals in their living countries., and their pictures will be framed and exhibited during the Speak Up Media Festivals in all five countries of the Speak Up! project.

Here are their pictures!

Author: Lana Shekh Alhaddadin, The Netherlands

“This picture shows my little brother with my neighbor. Since we live in The Netherlands, she has been a great help for us. For me, this is what means ‘living together’”

Author: Catherine John, Hungary

“The picture is about foreigners living in a small city called Godollo, who participate in a community garden project that supplies fresh food to the community members. They also participate in intercultural programmes”

Author: Khatireh Vaziri, Greece

“Meem is like a mother. She is with her child in the most difficult situations”

Author: Alan Mohamad, Netherlands

“This photo shows clothing of the Kurdish people, living in 4 countries (Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey). The couple on the photo met online and married after five years of online love in Germany. Living together”

Annoucing Speak Up Festivals around Europe!

This November 2021, the “Ithaka International and Media Festival” is travelling around Europe, from Italy to Greece, through the Netherlands, Hungary, and France. The events will be an occasion to showcase photographs, videos and podcasts produced by newly arrived young migrants in the frame of Speak Up! workshops.

Italy – October 29

Forma Azione is organizing 2 Festivals. The first one, “SPEAK UP! Media and Information literacy come strumento per dare voce ai migranti e favorire l’inclusione”, will be located at the San Fedele theatre of Montone, Umbria. This festival will start with the screening of the selected videos and podcasts produced by Speak Up beneficiaries, while media and migration experts will gather for the national experts meeting. This event is part of the larger festival, “Festa del Bosco of Montone” hosted by Umbria Film Festival (UFF).

Forma.Azione second festival, “Black Lives Matter, movimenti per la Cittadinanza, reti di contrasto all’odio: quale il ruolo dei media e della cultura nel raccontare il cambiamento”, is taking place in the South of the country, in Lecce, as part of the Sabir Festival, organized by ARCI – Forma.Azione partner. Experts will discuss about the interactions between politics and media, debating how discrimination online is becoming systemic.

The Netherlands – 12 to 14 November

Common Frames is organizing the “Greet&Meet – stories of newcomers” festival on November 12, 13 and 14. The team will move around Utrecht with a Caravan equipped with a LED-screen animating films, podcasts and artworks produced by young migrants for young migrants. Podcasts and movies will be projected all day, every day, from 2pm to 6pm.

The event is itinerant: the first destination of the tour is Mosque Square (city center) on November 12, followed by Vechtclub XL on November 13, concluding at the Art Space, in De Nijverheid, on November 14. Common Frames will also present a further program as part of the main festival, “Le Guess Who?”, together with Radio Einstein, the partner organization. Every day at 4pm, a live talk show is leaving the floor open to Radio Einstein’s artists and Speak-Up!’s media makers to further discussions. The event is co-funded by Gemeente Utrecht (Utrecht municipality).

France – 13 November

ERIM is leading the “Speak Up Festival” in Lyon, France, On November 13. The event is taking place at Musée Gadagne and will start with a national experts meeting during which media and migration professional will discuss media production with young migrants as well as Speak Up Manifesto. It will be followed by the screening of the movies realized with and by the young migrants newly arrived in France. It will also be an occasion to listen to the podcast produced in the frame of the podcast workshops with Movement Up in the winter and Spring 2021, as well as to exhibit pictures from Speak Up Photo Competition. The event will be part of the “Images Migrantes” festival.

Greece – 26 to 28 November

KARPOS GR is coordinating the “Media for Inclusion” festival, co-financed by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, and part of the broader event “Athens Ethnographic Film Festival (Ethnofest)”, on November 26, 27, and 28 in Athens. In the first day, a team of media local experts will present the Manifesto of the project; the introduction will be followed by a panel discussion led by journalists reporting on current debates around refugees’ representation on media. The panel will then leave room for a young migrant working for “Migratory Birdsso”, a newspaper that exposes first-hand experiences of young refugees engaged in the media sector. On November 27, in collaboration with Ethnofest (Athens Ethnographic Film Festival) the team will screen the movies produced by the project’s participants which will be followed by a Q&A session and the awards ceremony.  The last day of the festival is going to host a masterclass with the media trainers Maria Leonida and Maria Pesli, who will share their experience with the Speak Up! Media for Inclusion project and explain to artists and educators how to best integrate audiovisual productions in their workshops with refugees.

Hungary – More details to come…

Speak Up going live at French International theater Festival

Let’s go on air!

Young, newly arrived migrants in Lyon, France, had the opportunity to make their voice heard on the radio as part of our Speak Up! Project during the Sens Interdits International Theater Festival.

Through Sens Interdits young reporter program, young people between 16 and 30 years old of all backgrounds are trained to various radio technics with the final aim to broadcast live interview on Sens Interdits radio station.

Kamara and Rose live at Sens Interdits radio channel, on October 23

During the past few months, the trainees, half of them with a migration background and supported by Speak Up!, have closely worked with media experts by attending 25 hours of podcast training courses, 20 hours trainings inherent to the realization of an audio docudrama, and 15 hours of web radio training. The intense training culminated in the release of audio productions which were then broadcasted on the Sens Interdits Web radio channel during their Festival from 13 to 30 October 2021. Under the supervision of two media experts — Dalia Ferreira and Thamara Bryson–, the audio productions were the core part of “Media and Migration”, and included interviews with artists from various countries such as Russia, Liban, or Kosovo.

On October 23, as part of its Speak Up! Media Festival, ERIM took part in a live session together with Kamara and Rose –two trainees– to discuss the importance of Media Information and Literacy through media productions workshops. They were also able to share their experience of the training, and what it brought to them. For Kamara, It s like therapy!

Speak Up Photo Competition promoting inclusion

Submit your photo!

A photo contest by five European partners has been launched promoting inclusion of recently arrived migrants into their new societies. SPEAK UP is inviting newly arrived migrants and youth to think and express, through original shots, their view on the theme of ‘inclusion’: how do you see yourself in your new country? Do you feel part of the new society or what would you need to feel this? Participants can send up a maximum of three photos adding a short text describing the pictures.

The deadline for submission is 30th of September 2021.

Participants are asked to send photos via the online form and need to post their photographs on their social media of preference using the hashtag #speakup and #livingtogether. Three photos will be selected as ‘best photos’ by the panel comprising an expert representative from each country. These winning entries will all receive a smartphone! Next to this main prize, twenty entries will be professionally printed and displayed at the festivals, along with a selection of the winners from other countries. The photographers will receive their own printed photo after the exhibitions. 

This competition is part of the project Speak Up – Media for Inclusion, a cross-European project aimed at integrating young, newly arrived migrants through video, radio production and media literacy trainings leading to media and films festivals. This project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European commission and takes place in five European countries: France (ERIM), Greece (Karpos), Hungary (Next Step), Italy (FORMA.Azione) and The Netherlands (Common Frames).

Further information and the rules of the contest can be found HERE.

Successfull First International Experts (hybrid) Meeting

UTRECHT, PERUGIA, ATHENS, BUDAPEST, LONDON, PARIS

On 2nd October 2020, Speak Up! partners organised the First International Experts Meeting under a hybrid format after the cancellation of the in-situ meeting in Utrecht due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Despite the complex global context,  most of the partners and experts were able to meet in each country in the cities of Utrecht, Perugia, Athens, Budapest, London and Paris, in order to gather around the same table and connect with the other countries via online platforms.

The goal of the meeting was to consult experts and practitioners in the fields of media, media and information literacy, migrations issues and from other convergent fields on the ways to foster the inclusivity and integration of young, newly arrived young migrants into their new host countries.

Based on the findings of the introductory meeting held in July, the International Expert Meeting gravitated around the five main topics on which our experts shared their best practices, as well as presented their conclusions and recommendations. Here’s a snapshot: 

  1. Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue: Bringing people together, in person or remotely, is widely known to have a positive outcome in terms of solidarity / connection / anti-polarizing effects. 
  1. Media Production tools for inclusion: Media does play a vital role for young people in general, and more so for young migrants. Hence, it might be very helpful to train young people to use media tools to promote their stories, although being traumatic. So, instead of only focusing on the trauma of their own stories, it would be better to highlight the fun aspect of working together producing radio and/or video content. Ultimately, they should become active news creators and not passive subjects.
  1. Media representation of migrant people: Media can be a powerful tool creating representations, stereotypes, etc. There are many factors to consider when communicating about one subject, especially migration. Terminology should be selected carefully and migrants should be playing an active content creative role as well as being a source of information. They should also have the opportunities to collaborate as trainers/experts as it is currently being done by ARCI in Italy.
  1. Media usage of terminology around migrant people: Change in terminology might not be necessary, but journalists and every other authors writing on the topic of migration should closely relate to the context and take in account the weight of the words in the language used. Additionnally, it should be made explicit how one uses any terminology, be accountable for it and reflect on it. 
  1. Best practices on MIL for newly arrived migrants: It is also important and useful to learn from other experiences and good practices that have proven to be effective, impacting in terms of inclusiveness progression in the communities of both locals and migrants. And, connecting with other key stakeholders in the field, as film festivals organisers, social inclusion programmes and projects, etc. is always worthwhile.

The next step is to build on existing experience of practitioners, academics, and migrant and refugee people to produce in the upcoming months a Manifesto and its implementing strategy to foster a smooth inclusion of young people on the move in their host countries. The document will become public during the 2nd international expert meeting to take place in June 2021 in Hungary or Austria. 

International Experts Meeting

The goal of the international experts meeting is to consult a panel of experts on the goals of the project Speak Up! Media for Inclusion.

With Speak Up! Media for Inclusion we want to foster the inclusivity and integration of young newly arrived migrants into their new communities by disseminating good practices in media education.

The goal of the experts meeting is to share our good practices and foster each other’s knowledge on the topic of migration in relation to media education and/or media literacy.

In addition, at the end of the two experts meetings (online and offline), the experts will develop a manifesto and its implementing strategy for journalists and social media activists in Europe to better address migration issues in their media.

Introducing the International Experts Meeting Online

On 9 July 2020, Speak Up! partners organised an introductory session to the 1st International Experts Meeting of the project which should have been hosted by Common Frames in Utrecht (the Netherlands).

This online meeting gathered 24 europe-based experts of 9 nationalities with expertise in Media, in Migration, and in working with refugees in Europe.

Expertise of the experts taking part in the Online meeting on 9 July 2020

The aim of this Online International Experts Introductory Meeting was to introduce the experts to each other in order to better identified the themes and issues that will be discussed during the 2nd of October in-person meeting in Utrecht, Netherlands.

During the discussion, the experts were asked to highlight which words came into their mind when thinking about ‘media for inclusion’ resulting in the following words cloud.

The goal of the international experts meeting is to consult a panel of experts on the goals of the project Speak Up! Media for Inclusion.

With Speak Up! Media for Inclusion we want to foster the inclusivity and integration of young newly arrived migrants into their new communities by disseminating good practices in media education.

The goal of the experts meeting is to share our good practices and foster each other’s knowledge on the topic of migration in relation to media education and/or media literacy.

In addition, at the end of the two experts meetings (online and offline), the experts will develop a manifesto and its implementing strategy for journalists and social media activists in Europe to better address migration issues in their media.