Welcome to the MLI Monthly Update!
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This Month in Media Literacy
Spring is in the air! The days are finally getting a bit brighter, and we have a new crop of announcements, events and resources for you this month. As ever, there is plenty happening in the world of media literacy, with calls for proposals, competitions, funding opportunities, training, as well as some exciting media literacy projects starting up. If you haven’t already, please take five minutes to have your say in our MLI member survey. We want to hear your feedback about the work we do, how we do it, and any suggestions you have for doing it better!
Announcements
STOP, THINK, CHECK mentioned on RTÉjr’s Cookie Bytes podcast
Dr Emma Clarke of the ADAPT Centre was a recent guest on RTÉjr’s podcast Cookie Bytes, which is aimed at 8–12-year-olds. Emma mentioned the Be Media Smart campaign STOP, THINK, CHECK as a tip for thinking before sharing AI-generated images. Hosts of the podcast Max and Sonny also gave a shout-out to the campaign when they appeared on The Today Show. You can listen to Emma on Episode 2 of the Cookie Bytes podcast on Spotify or on RTÉ.
SLí announces new media literacy project
Waterford Sustainable Living Initiative (SLí) has announced the launch of their new Erasmus+ Project, Dismiss Media Manipulation. The project is a collaborative effort to enhance media literacy and counter mis- and disinformation, with particular focus on climate-related issues.
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Kinia Academy’s new Experience AI programme
The Kinia Academy has announced its new fully funded programme for educators nationwide. The Experience AI programme offers cutting-edge resources on artificial intelligence and machine learning for teachers and students.
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Fostering Empathy Online: New digital learning course from spunout
Ireland’s youth information and support platform, spunout, has developed a new digital resource to help young people find effective ways of responding to online harm and support their peers in online spaces.
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Call for proposals: Digital Citizenship Education Forum: Let’s Act Now! – 27–28 May
Taking place in Strasbourg within the framework of the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025, this forum will gather international experts, cross-sector stakeholders, as well as parents, carers and youth to discuss innovative initiatives in the field of digital citizenship education. There are two ways to participate in the event: as a prospective participant or as a prospective speaker. In the latter case, an outline of the planned speech or presentation should be submitted. The submission deadline is 6 April 2025.
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Funding opportunity: Rethink Ireland Connected Communities Fund 2025–2028
The 3-year Connected Communities Fund aims to promote equity and inclusion, encourage media literacy and community awareness initiatives, and empower communities to develop meaningful connections across diverse groups. It will offer a package of cash grants and non-financial supports to a maximum value of €220,800 each for up to five projects, to help them expand and increase their social impact.
The Connected Communities Fund is now open for applications from changemaking non-profit organisations that are dedicated to scaling innovations that strengthen civil society, build community cohesion and empower communities to develop solutions that work for all. This fund is open for applications until 11 April at 1 p.m.
Apply here.
Call for submissions: FÍS Film Competition
There is an open invitation to all Department of Education-designated Irish primary schools to enter their films into the 19th annual national FÍS Film Awards competition. To enter, primary schools across the country are asked to create an (up to) five-minute film on a subject of their choice. There is no need to register in advance. The competition closes on 27 June.
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Announcement of theme of The Children’s Media Conference 2025 – 8–10 July
Taking place in Sheffield in the UK, the theme of the conference this year is ‘Shake It Up’ – reflecting the seismic times we live in – worldwide and industry-wide. CMC 2025 will explore every possible way to shake up your thinking and help find new ways to serve kids the best possible life-enhancing content, while securing the finance needed to achieve that … in distinctly shaky times!
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Call for proposals: No Time to Wait Conference – 15–17 October
Organised by the National Library of Ireland and MediaArea, this three-day conference explores open media, open standards, and digital audiovisual preservation. The organisers are keen to hear from Irish practitioners and institutions on their various digital preservation and collecting endeavours in the form of panels, lightning talks and full presentations.
You can submit a proposal here. Registration is now open for this event.
The VISAVIS project
The VISAVIS project focuses on strengthening information skills and developing tools to detect misleading visual information such as manipulated and/or AI-generated images and videos. Using a citizen science approach, two local media and information literacy campaigns will be carried out in Belgium and Sweden, targeting people who are particularly vulnerable and exposed to misleading/misinformation online (age groups 18–34 and 55–74). The first results of VISAVIS are expected from mid-2025.
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Events
International Journalism Festival – 9–13 April
The 19th edition of this free five-day event takes place in Perugia, Italy. The English-language part of the festival programme will be concentrated on 10–12 April. On 13 April there will be only Italian-language events. Topics will include AI, big tech, engagement and trust and press freedom.
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LAI/CILIP Joint Annual Conference 2025 – 10–11 April
The theme of this year’s LAI and CILIP joint annual conference is ‘Shining Lights’. This event is for those working in all types of libraries, those studying information and library studies, and those with an interest in libraries in general.
Register for this event here.
Training seminar: Staying Safe Online: Empowering You to Navigate the Online World with Confidence – 11 April
NYCI is hosting a free training seminar for those working with young people in a youth work, out-of-school or non-formal education setting. The aim of this seminar is to build participants’ confidence and capacity in navigating the online space and reclaiming the digital world as a place of connection, not harm. This is an in-person event, taking place in Wood Quay, Dublin 8, from 10:30 a.m.–3 pm.
Register here.
In Case You Missed It
The Children’s Manifesto for the Future of AI
On 4 February, approximately 150 children and young people aged between 8–18 from across the UK took part in the first ever Children’s AI Summit. The Children’s Manifesto for the Future of AI was developed from ideas, pitches and messages submitted to world leaders by children in the run-up to the summit.
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Media Services Board kick-off meeting – 10 February
The kick-off meeting of the Media Board was in Brussels, marking a turning point in EU media institutional and regulatory design. Established under the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the Media Board is an independent advisory body at Union level, bringing together independent national media regulators from all EU Member States to promote a more coherent and effective application of media regulation across the Union.
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Webinar: Clearing the Air: Building Trust Against Climate Misinformation Storms – 20 February
This webinar from the EU DisinfoLab explores case studies that demonstrate how mis- and disinformation can cross over into other risk areas – hate, harassment, health misinformation, and ultimately violence. It also discusses the policy implications, particularly in the context of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Watch here.
Google’s ‘Growing Up in the Digital Age’ Summit – 4 March
The Google Safety Engineering Center (GSEC) in Dublin recently held the annual ‘Growing Up in the Digital Age’ Summit, convening over 200 online safety experts from 20 countries. The three-day event saw impactful discussions and collaborative workshops focused on protecting, respecting and empowering young people online.
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Breaking news in a broken system: An international view – 26 March
Kindly hosted by the Irish Times, and facilitated by NewsBrands Ireland, this in-person event featured a wide-ranging conversation exploring the challenges faced by journalists when trying to hold power to account in a digital media environment against a background of increasing mis- and disinformation.
More
Reminder: Teaching with Hope and Love Conference in Galway – 29–30 May
Presented in association with the Community Communication and Alternative Media Section of IAMCR, this conference, taking place in Galway, will focus on how teaching and research related to community and alternative media can help tackle the global rise in racism and intolerance. The call for papers application is here. If you would like to attend without presenting, please email andrew.obaoill@universityofgalway.ie by the end of April.
Resource of the Month
NYCI’s Stop! Wait a Minute! – Critical Social Media Literacy Tool
This interactive resource has been designed by young people for young people, youth workers, educators and youth leaders to explore the concepts of critical thinking and media literary in relation to social media. It recognises the need for wellbeing practices as the starting point to a critical reflective practice, and is situated in the wider context of people vs big tech.
Download this resource here.
Other resources by NYCI can be found here.
Thanks for reading!
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Kind regards,
The MLI Team
