Background

There are key challenges in promoting digital citizenship across Europe. With rapid advancements in technology and varying national contexts, there is a pressing need to foster digital well-being by sharing best practices, amplifying the voice of young people and empowering schools and families through digital citizenship education. As schools navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape, they need guidance and support to integrate technology meaningfully and responsibly, reflecting a wider societal effort to ensure digital environments contribute positively to learning and well-being. Simultaneously, the learners need to further develop competences to thrive ethically, responsibly, and effectively in a digitally enriched world.

The webinar is organised by the joint effort of European Schoolnet and the Council of Europe within the framework of the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025. The event is aimed at bringing together the main stakeholders of digital citizenship education to further promote responsible and positive engagement in online environments and to enhance active youth participation in promoting digital citizenship. 

Objectives

• Raise awareness on the importance of digital citizenship education in fostering democratic, inclusive, and resilient societies. 
• Explore diverse strategies for promoting well-being, both online and offline, and addressing concerns around access to digital devices and social media at a young age. 
• Showcase best practices and collaborative efforts among educators, policy makers, and young people. 

Target audience

European teachers and education professionals and education policy makers, including teacher trainers, school leaders, local and regional education officials, and university educators as they are more likely to engage with English-language content and can act as multipliers.

Expected Outcomes

• Increased awareness of the importance of digital citizenship education among educators and policy makers. 
• Sharing of international best practices and digital learning resources on well-being online. 
• Increased awareness among youth on their digital rights and responsibilities.

More broadly, this webinar will contribute to the main objectives of the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025, creating a platform for meaningful discussions, policy alignment, and practical implementation strategies across Europe. 

Date

Thursday 6 November 2025, 16:00 to 17:30 CET – this date also coincides with the back-to-school period and will follow the Global Media and Information Literacy Week (24-31 October). It will also be UNESCO’s International day against violence and bullying at school, including cyberbullying. 

Registration

To attend this webinar, it is necessary to register by 31 October using the following form:
Participant registration form

Agenda

The webinar will start with an overview of the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025 and some context setting on the state of digital citizenship education across Europe. This will then be followed by a panel discussion made up of two distinct parts.  

Part 1 will focus on well-being online addressing the use of digital devices in school to discuss the opportunities, challenges and risks of this use. Panellists will discuss the pedagogical and didactical choices educators could make when it comes to use of digital devices in order to tackle complex challenges and enable learning in diverse student groups while reflecting on the students’ use of digital devices and social media outside of the classroom and the digital risks that emerge during free time. Strategies to strengthen home-school collaboration in order to balance screen time and the role of media literacy will also be addressed. 

Part 2 will focus on the voices of young people with a pupil-led discussion which builds on part 1 and focuses on their rights and responsibilities in the context of well-being online. It will serve to amplify pupil voices in digital policy discussions and provide a platform to showcase youth-led initiatives on digital citizenship education. 

The audience will be able to engage through a Q&A (via chat or via muting/unmuting their microphone depending on the technical set-up).