The year 2023 is CONNECT International’s Digital Citizenship year. Throughout the course of the year, we will delve deeper into this topic through all of our programmes and initiatives, with a particular emphasis on the topic being placed through the European Youth Foundation-funded project titled “Digital Citizenship through Youth Glasses.” The goal of the project is to contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for Digital Citizenship by empowering young people and youth organisations to voice their needs and visions for the future of Digital Citizenship, particularly digital participation and empowerment, and by building their capacities to make use of new technologies in Digital Citizenship education.

From 23 to 25 February CONNECT organised a Stakeholder meeting on Digital Citizenship with youth organisations from across Europe, aimed at mapping the experiences, needs, and challenges of YOs in Digital Citizenship to date, as well as mapping the most prevalent and effective existing materials in DCEducation for youth workers. This evidence will serve as a starting point for later phases of the projects, discussions, and planning. The outcomes of this meeting will establish a clear evidence-based path for the later phases of the project. 

During the meeting, a special session was organised with invited guests from Brussels-based stakeholders. During this session, the need for careful policy development in the field was emphasised, followed by a discussion of current trends, identified challenges, and identified needs, as well as ideas on how the youth sector could become meaningfully involved in the process.