Empowering young people to build resilient, inclusive and connected societies
Digital Citizens is a multi-country programme that equips young people with the skills, knowledge and values needed to navigate an increasingly complex digital world. Working across Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic region, the programme strengthens social cohesion, promotes civic values and builds resilience to misinformation and disinformation.
Building on the British Council’s experience through People to People, Youth Connect, G-Lens and other digital and media literacy initiatives, Digital Citizens combines youth engagement, international exchange and research to support more effective responses to information disorder.
Why Digital Citizens?
The rapid spread of disinformation, online polarisation and declining trust can undermine social cohesion and increase divisions within communities. Digital Citizens supports young people, youth workers and community leaders to engage critically, responsibly and constructively online, with a particular focus on marginalised groups and those affected by fragility and conflict, including women and girls.
Alongside building participants’ skills and networks, the programme strengthens the evidence base on effective responses to disinformation. Through research, monitoring, evaluation and learning, it generates insights to inform future policy and programming in the UK and internationally.
Where we work
Digital Citizens brings together participants from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechia (with outreach to Slovakia), Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.
These countries share common challenges relating to information disorder, creating opportunities for collaboration, learning and exchange across the region.
What we do
The programme engages young leaders, youth workers and other multipliers through:
- research, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL);
- training on digital citizenship and social cohesion;
- workshops and social action projects addressing challenges linked to disinformation;
- study visits to the UK;
- peer learning and youth summits; and
- policy dialogue informed by programme evidence and learning.
Expected outcomes
Digital Citizens empowers young people to build more cohesive and resilient communities by strengthening their digital citizenship skills, civic engagement and resilience to disinformation.
The programme also builds the evidence base on effective responses to information disorder, generating insights that inform future policy and practice in the UK and internationally.