By Iglika Ivanova, Media Literacy Coalition Bulgaria
In 2018, through volunteer efforts, the Media Literacy Coalition (MLC) in Bulgaria started the initiative “Media Literacy Days” and held its first national conference. From then on Media Literacy Coalition organises two major campaigns each year – “Media Literacy Days” in the first half of the year, traditionally launched on the Safer Internet Day, and a national conference in the late fall. Through them, the association promotes the importance of media literacy, increases awareness of the projects and best practices in the field throughout society, and enables various stakeholders to recognize the topic and get involved in the initiatives of the Coalition.
In 2021, this Annual National Conference was again organized jointly by the Media Literacy Coalition and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. This time the focus of the forum was the lifelong development of media literacy as a counteraction to disinformation campaigns.
The conference was preceded by three trainings aimed at different target groups – older people, teachers, librarians, employees in NGOs and municipal administrations, health mediators. Through them, as well as through the conference itself, the Media Literacy Coalition once again took part with dedicated events in the UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week (MIL for the Public Good).
The official representative of UNICEF in Bulgaria, Mrs Christina de Bruin, and Media Literacy Ireland’s national coordinator and Mercury Insights founder, Ms. Martina Chapman, participated as special guests with exceptional speeches that brought the perspectives of challenges, experiences and best practices in media literacy from abroad.
Please see below for additional resources:
Media Literacy Coalition online presence linktree: https://linktr.ee/medialiteracycoalition
The 2020 National Conference web page in English: https://events.gramoten.li/en/
The 2020 National Conference video recording: https://events.gramoten.li/en/watch-live/
The 2020 National Conference gallery: https://events.gramoten.li/en/gallery/
The 2021 National Conference web page in English: https://conference2021.gramoten.li/en/home-english/
The 2021 National Conference video recording: http://conference2021.gramoten.li/en/video/
The 2021 National Conference gallery: http://conference2021.gramoten.li/en/gallery/
The video recording of Martina’s speech: https://we.tl/t-e3lU7uRIca
