ESCLIB PROJECT LAUNCH – A NEW ERASMUS+ ENDEAVOUR FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND LIBRARIES

Between 6 and 7 May PiNA colleagues Maja Drobna and Vid Sever travelled to Brussels on business, where the partners of the new ESCLIB project met officially for the first time and kicked off a two-year adventure that will equip young Europeans with critical-thinking skills for navigating digital media and combating disinformation—especially that linked to climate change. The inaugural partner meeting gave the green light to original, gamified and co-creative methodologies that, over the next two years, will also strengthen the role of public libraries in youth work. We will pilot the project in cooperation with Koper Public Library, Ljubljana City Library and Kranj City Library.

What will ESCLIB deliver?

Across three countries (Slovenia, Poland and Belgium) the project will localise and pilot two escape-room-style gameson disinformation, directly involving 180 young people in playing, analysing and co-creating climate-change content. In addition, we will train 18 librarians, run an online webinar series and produce a comprehensive toolkit of best practices for implementing games and other media- and information-literacy methods in libraries.

A strong international team

The consortium brings together five partners from four countries:

• Public Libraries 2030 & Cultuurconnect (Belgium)
• FUNDACJA Rozwoju Społeczeństwa Informacyjnego – FRSI (Poland)
• PiNA (Slovenia)
• University of Washington – Center for an Informed Public (USA)

Together, through the Erasmus+ programme, we will exchange knowledge, develop innovative tools and build the competences of both young people and libraries.

Why does it matter?

Recent studies show that 71 % of Europeans regularly encounter disinformation, while young people often lack sufficient support in schools to critically assess online content. ESCLIB’s games, trainings and learning resources will address these gaps and empower young people to become guardians of truth and active citizens.

Stay tuned!

Over the coming months we will share first impressions from the field, present the results of the local escape rooms and invite young people to co-create a new game on climate-related disinformation. Follow PiNA’s website and social media for fresh updates—plenty of exciting news is on the way!

(The ESCLIB project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National Agency.)