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Author: Chloé Pété, Project Officer (Digital and Media Literacy), Media & Learning Association/EDMO

Abstract: Drawing on 2 years of bi-monthly reporting from 14 EDMO hubs, this article explores the successes, challenges and lessons emerging from media literacy initiatives across Europe. The findings reveal growing demand, innovative practices, and persistent structural challenges related to funding, engagement, evaluation and sustainability.

Keywords: Media Literacy; Disinformation; Societal Resilience

Between April 2023 and April 2025, the 14 national and regional hubs of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO)[1] implemented hundreds of media literacy activities across Europe. Through workshops, teacher training programmes, educational resources, awareness campaigns, community engagement activities and collaborations with schools, journalists and policymakers, the hubs worked to strengthen societal resilience against disinformation.

The bi-monthly reporting collected throughout this period provides a unique snapshot of how media literacy is evolving across Europe. While national contexts vary significantly, common themes emerge regarding what works, where challenges persist, and what lessons can inform future action.

Here are the 5 major strands which stood out during this period:

1. Demand for media literacy continues to outpace capacity

Perhaps the clearest finding across the EDMO network is that demand for media literacy is growing faster than the capacity available to meet it.

EDMO Ireland summarised this reality succinctly: ‘’There is a significant hunger for media literacy, but insufficient time and resources to respond to it. Similar patterns emerged elsewhere.’’

The Bulgarian-Romanian Observatory of Digital Media – BROD, reported strong demand for its Digital Media Literacy training courses, particularly among secondary school teachers who had been waiting years for access to specialised professional development. The Nordic Observatory for Digital Media and Information Disorder – NORDIS observed strong uptake of its AI Guide for Teachers, demonstrating educators’ growing need for support in navigating emerging technologies such as generative AI.

Meanwhile, the Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory – MEDDMO reported conducting a substantial number of activities across Malta, Cyprus and Greece, creating meaningful conversations around topics that previously received limited public attention.

The challenge is no longer convincing audiences that media literacy matters. Rather, it is ensuring sufficient resources, expertise and capacity to meet growing expectations.

2. Schools and teachers remain central, but engagement is becoming more complex

Across Europe, schools continue to represent one of the most important entry points for media literacy.

Several hubs reported successful collaborations with schools and ministries of education. MEDDMO highlighted the importance of partnerships with schools in a context where no national media literacy strategy exists. BROD renewed its collaboration with the Romanian Ministry of Education and contributed to policy discussions in the Romanian Senate advocating for media literacy and critical thinking within secondary education curricula.

However, educators are also facing new challenges.

BROD repeatedly reported difficulties maintaining students’ attention during training sessions, forcing trainers to adapt content, shorten activities and redesign formats. Similarly, HDMO emphasised the importance of working collaboratively with young people to ensure media literacy activities remain relevant and engaging.

These experiences suggest that while educational institutions remain essential partners, media literacy practitioners increasingly need to compete with highly stimulating digital environments for learners’ attention.

3. Innovation and adaptation are key to reaching new audiences

Many hubs experimented with creative approaches designed to move beyond traditional classroom-based interventions.

Baltic Engagement Centre for Combating Information Disorders – BECID‘s “Media Literacy by Mail” initiative engaged more than 1000 Estonian teenagers through a game-based learning experience developed with university students. The hub also reported success with newsroom-based workshops, allowing young people to engage directly with journalists and the news production process.

The Flemish-Dutch cooperation against disinformation, for and by fact-checkers, media professionals, and other experts – BENEDMO began exploring the needs of low-literacy audiences and investigating how disinformation affects populations often overlooked by traditional media literacy initiatives.

Malta’s MEDDMO generated valuable qualitative insights through focus groups and interviews, offering a deeper understanding of how citizens engage with information and media in everyday life.

A common lesson emerging across the network is that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to media literacy. Successful initiatives increasingly tailor formats, content and delivery methods to the specific needs of different audiences.

4. Measuring impact remains one of the field’s biggest challenges

While hubs have become increasingly successful at reaching audiences, understanding long-term impact remains difficult.

The Hungarian Hub Against Disinformation – HDMO highlighted a challenge familiar to many practitioners: ‘’It is relatively easy to measure views, clicks and participation numbers, but much harder to assess whether media literacy skills have actually improved.’’

Similarly, several hubs reported difficulties evaluating behavioural change, critical thinking development and resilience to disinformation.

The challenge extends beyond evaluation. MEDDMO noted difficulties reaching audiences beyond those already interested in media literacy topics. The German-Austrian Digital Media Observatory – GADMO faced similar obstacles when attempting to expand participation in online media literacy offers, with educational videos receiving fewer views than anticipated despite their quality.

These experiences raise important questions about how success should be measured and how media literacy initiatives can effectively reach broader audiences. This is one of the areas where EDMO has sought to provide additional support through the development of the EDMO Guidelines for Effective Media Literacy Initiatives, which respond in part to these challenges by offering practical principles to help practitioners think more consistently about design, implementation and evaluation. The guidelines encourage a flexible, context-sensitive approach and underline that assessment should go beyond quantitative outputs to also consider relevance, engagement and learning processes.

5. Funding, sustainability and institutional recognition remain critical obstacles

Many challenges reported by hubs were not pedagogical but structural.

BECID struggled to secure sponsorship for successful youth initiatives despite demonstrated impact. EDMO Ireland reported insufficient resources to meet growing demand. GADMO highlighted broader funding difficulties while also noting that misunderstandings about fact-checking persist even among professional audiences.

The Iberian Digital Media Observatory – IBERIFIER reported challenges motivating teachers to participate in training specifically focused on disinformation, suggesting that media literacy still faces issues of visibility and prioritisation within educational systems.

At the same time, several hubs demonstrated growing institutional recognition. BROD’s engagement with policymakers and ministries, MEDDMO’s relationships with schools, and the Central European Digital Media Observatory – CEDMO‘s expansion of media literacy activities across multiple target groups illustrate the increasing legitimacy of media literacy within public policy and education ecosystems.

The challenge now is ensuring that this recognition translates into sustainable long-term support.

Looking ahead

The experiences of EDMO hubs between 2023 and 2025 reveal a media literacy field that is simultaneously maturing and facing new complexities.

The network has successfully developed innovative resources, established partnerships with schools and policymakers, engaged thousands of citizens, and expanded discussions around disinformation, artificial intelligence and democratic resilience. Yet important challenges remain. Demand continues to exceed available training. Measuring impact remains difficult. Sustaining engagement over time requires constant adaptation. Funding remains uncertain, and reaching audiences beyond those already interested in media literacy continues to be a common concern.

Taken together, these lessons suggest that the future of media literacy in Europe will depend not only on developing new educational tools and campaigns, but also on building stronger support structures, improving evaluation frameworks and ensuring sustainable investment in the organisations delivering this work.

As Europe continues to navigate increasingly complex information environments, the experiences of the EDMO hubs provide valuable evidence that media literacy is no longer a complementary activity. It has become an essential component of democratic resilience.

[1] The EDMO Hubs network initially comprised 14 hubs; FACT subsequently became the 15th hub to officially join the network.