In the ever-shifting landscape of modern media, disinformation has become a powerful adversary of truth, transparency, and informed decision-making, eroding public trust and distorting the reality we rely on. But in Serbia, a quiet digital revolution was taking place to combat it - led by Catalyst Balkans and fueled by collaboration, innovation, and the unwavering dedication of two local organizations: NUNS (Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia) and Europolis.

The Local Action initiative implemented by OZ Mládež ulice aimed at supporting critical thinking among young people, enhancing awareness and communication in the field of cybersecurity.

To tackle the disinformation challenge, the Dialog Alternativ used the Forum Theater method, engaging and educating young people and community members. This interactive approach encouraged participants to critically filter information and verify facts before sharing potentially misleading "news." The initiative fostered a more informed generation.

Recognizing the need for proactive solutions to address the threat of disinformation, the OZ VIAC (Institute for Youth Support and Development) has taken significant steps at the Orava Youth Center in Ústie nad Priehradou (Slovakia). They developed tools to counter disinformation by working with parents from disadvantaged backgrounds on the topic of cybersecurity. A unique initiative was the development of a disinformation-themed Live Action Role-Playing (LARP). This engaging and immersive experience allowed participants to step into scenarios that challenge their critical thinking and decision-making skills, fostering a deeper understanding of the disinformation mechanisms.

Small actions, long-lasting impact: building an informed and resilient society by developing an open-access digital pocket dictionary to combat climate disinformation.

The Sõna ja Tegu (Word and Action) platform was created to promote transparency and strengthen civic responsibility. Using AI, it automatically collects and analyzes data on the fulfillment of political promises, enabling citizens to access essential information in real-time.

The "Russian Narratives About Ukraine in Kosovo" initiative was implemented by Hibrid.info/ADS as a Local Action Plan to investigate and counter Russian disinformation narratives connecting the Ukraine conflict to the Kosovo-Serbia relationship. It aimed to uncover, analyze, and counteract the spread of Russian disinformation narratives that draw misleading parallels between the situations in Ukraine and Kosovo.

ACITMM and Rádio Sintoniza-T are situated in Mercês, a parish within the municipality of Sintra known for having one of the largest concentrations of various nationalities. This diversity makes it a significant center for developing a project addressing the racism faced by these communities and others, as well as the discrimination present in Portuguese society.

In an era where disinformation and fake news are increasingly pervasive, an innovative project in North Macedonia sought to confront these challenges through a unique medium: art. The idea of the project was to introduce a creative, emotionally engaging and easily accessible approach to raising awareness about the dangers of disinformation. This project leveraged the power of creativity, public dialogue, surprise, and visibility in public spaces to reach new audiences who might not be familiar with the phenomenon and its negative consequences.

The issue of marriage equality has been the subject of much debate around the world, but in Hungary the issue of rainbow families and the rights of same-sex couples has been particularly acute in recent years. In this context, the Rainbow Families Foundation organised the conference "A family is a family: International Conference on Marriage Equality 2024".

The Balatonalmádi ’Together for Our Town’ Association in cooperation with the the neighbouring town’s community (Lovas Harbour), conducted a campaign between May and October 2024 - partly scientific, partly educational - on the effective and nature-friendly control of mosquitoes in Balaton, Hungary.

The iQLANDIA science center in Liberec is an interactive educational institution that has been inspiring discovery in science and technology since 2014. It offers a variety of exhibitions and programs for children, young people, and adults, covering topics ranging from physics and chemistry to artificial intelligence and robotics. For schools, it provides specialized educational programs that complement the school curriculum and add an experiential dimension to learning. The programs are adapted to different age groups and cover topics such as media literacy, critical thinking, and working with digital technologies. Students can explore current issues such as misinformation and the use of artificial intelligence in education in a fun and interactive way.

This Local Action case study presents how 30 students from Romania created an awareness campaign in which they informed and motivated their peers about the importance of voting. The campaign also focused on techniques for countering disinformation that young people could apply in their everyday lives.

Our goal with the presented communication campaign is to aid in fact-based awareness by presenting credible information regarding the internally displaced persons living in Ukraine, particularly in the country's poorest region, Transcarpathia. The "Medical Help Where Needed" – MedSpot Foundation provides care for families living as internally displaced persons in the hinterland of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in and around Uzhhorod, Transcarpathia. In the communication campaign, we present the lives, mental burdens of the internally displaced persons, and the work of our team.

Deepfakes are a form of audio-visual manipulation through artificial intelligence. Recent developments in this field have increased the curiosity to understand more about deepfakes. The literature on deepfakes has multiplied in recent years.

In a small-scale project – media literacy training seminar “From Consumer to Creator” – 30 Municipal Youth Councils’ representatives* from five different municipalities in Latvia gathered to reflect on their media consumption habits, explore their own cognitive bias, learn about social media algorithms, and exchange their practices creating collaboration ideas for the future.

Unveiling 'Checkbot' is a pioneering media literacy project at the forefront of empowering digital audiences now live on Facebook and Instagram.

The Ukraine Solidarity Response Initiative (USRI) was born out of a critical need to fight the rampant disinformation related to the war in Ukraine after full invasion in 2022.

One of the disinformation frontlines concerns food and its production. Its aim is to spread fabrications through these topics to support the Kremlin's “traditional” long-term disinformation narratives. These narratives are largely about the decadent West disregarding traditional values, the upcoming catastrophe, which is always around the corner, but never actually happens and caring more about the LGBTQ+ community than about the so-called traditional families.

In the heart of the Havířov region in Czechia, a dynamic group of young minds from the Comenius High School would like to shape the future in the region they call home. Havířov, an economically and socially excluded region with a long-lasting poor level of infrastructure and education, with many challenges, is also vulnerable towards disinformation. Led by a TechSoup Master Trainer Aneta Bednářová, supported by an active teacher Jana, this passionate team embarked on a project focused on combating disinformation. Their journey unfolded through creating and piloting of a peer-to-peer workshop, igniting a spark of awareness and empowerment among their peers. “Let`s empower media literacy in Havířov”, we say.

Today, we would like to share with you an important awareness-raising campaign - a case study from the Local Action Plan carried out by our TechSoup Trainers.

How can a theatre association and a school in a small town work together effectively? How to actively involve overburdened teachers and young people with difficulties beyond school? In February 2023, the NIOK Foundation organised a workshop entitled Acting Locally in partnership with the Hive Mind community. After the training, the selected participants were able to practice what they had learnt in implementing actions with the support of NIOK. The experiences of the Tandem Theatre's Local Impact action are shared below.

Every day millions of people access the internet and browse through countless content within the reach of a few clicks. Children and teenagers are connecting more and more frequently, finding facilities to access information, knowledge and opportunities, while exposing themselves to different risks such as cyberbullying, sharing private information with strangers, sexual exploitation online, among others.

Main goal of this Local Action aimed at development of parenting skills of fathers in the cities of Falesti, Calarasi and Orhei by encouraging active involvement in their education, and fostering positive narratives by building their online community, as well as offering dedicated courses and trainings.

Outreach to socially deprived suburban areas through grassroots, youth journalism.

Breaking the echo chambers. Building teachers' and students' resilience.

Creative information literacy techniques for children? Look no further.

Improving the knowledge and skills for working in a digital environment, developing critical and analytical thinking and avoiding risks on the Internet

Teenagers from Dream Factory acting studio created 8 raising awareness videos focusing on how to recognize Fake News, Deep News and how to behave when someone spreads misinformation, or simply is being abusive online.

"Bro/ Sis, Just Be YOURSELF. I got your back!" - 1st Community Building Billboard Campaign Targeting Siblings of LGBTIQ+ Persons.

Protecting young people from becoming targets of internet trolls, haters, stalkers & other cyberbullies.

Critical thinking skills development for students and teachers alike.

A series of workshops and online games for secondary school students.

A simple guide through the media jungle for senior citizens.

A three-part animated video series on disinformation

A social media-driven campaign to bring the topic of information verification to average users in an easy-to-understand way.

Raising awareness with actions! Strengthening resilience of activists through workshops, lectures & digital safety and security training.

Building resilience against disinformation.

Success stories at the grassroot level.

A journey through the political views of young people.