In many societies, including those in the Western Balkans, there is growing concern about misinformation.
Therefore, at Časoris, we have designed the project MediaWISE: Empowering Minds for a Resilient Future, with which we aim to create an alliance of individuals and organizations in the Western Balkans, as well as in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, to strengthen media literacy and combat misinformation.
The project connects individuals and organizations from nine countries:
- Albanian Media Institute, Albania,
- Mediacentar Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Institut za medije Crne Gore (IMCG), Montenegro,
- Dren Gerguri, Kosovo,
- Macedonian Institute for Media, North Macedonia,
- Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans, Serbia,
- Knigovishte, Bulgaria,
- Idea Foundation, Hungary,
- Mediawise Society, Romania.
In these countries, there are no media outlets for children, and in many places, there are no programs for implementing media literacy in schools, making children more susceptible to various disinformation campaigns.
At Časoris, as part of the projects Media Literacy for a Sustainable Future and KidsTrustNews, we have developed educational materials to help teachers incorporate journalism and media content into the school environment.
With the MediaWISE project, we aim to extend the experience gained and good practices developed to the Western Balkans, as well as Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
We will translate Časoris’ media literacy portal into English and three local languages and offer teachers ten lesson plans in English, Albanian, Macedonian, and Serbian.
As part of the project, we will organize two conferences in the fall to present the Časoris online newspaper for children and the lesson plans.
The conferences are intended for teachers and other interested individuals and organizations.
The conference in Podgorica will be on October 2, and it will be intended for teachers from the Western Balkan countries. The conference in Sofia will be on October 23, targeting English language teachers from the region, especially those from Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
We expect approximately 60 participants at each conference. The primary goal of both is to bring together teachers and share knowledge and experiences.
During the conference, we will present the five online training modules developed for teachers and other interested professionals and conduct various workshops to facilitate the usage of our materials.
In the end, teachers will be equipped with enough knowledge to test the materials in their classrooms and suggest possible improvements.
Our main goal is to strengthen civic responsibility, democratic values, and critical thinking skills of the younger generation through media literacy in the region.
Additionally, we aim to promote transparency, accuracy, and respect for media ethics, which will significantly contribute to improving and strengthening resilience against misinformation.
Furthermore, we seek to establish new partnerships with local organizations, with which we will be able to raise awareness about media literacy and the dangers of misinformation in the future.
The project is funded the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana.
