DISMANTLING FAKE NEWS TO STOP HATRED: EDUCATION FOR THE INCLUSION OF ADULT WOMEN IN RISK OF EXCLUSION. Erasmus Project

Project Title

DISMANTLING FAKE NEWS TO STOP HATRED: EDUCATION FOR THE INCLUSION OF ADULT WOMEN IN RISK OF EXCLUSION.

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; Gender equality / equal opportunities; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

Although the existence of Fake News is not a new phenomenon, social networks have enhanced their dissemination. Almost half of EU citizens (46% in 2016) read their news through social networks and six out of ten tend to share them without having verified its accuracy or even read them. Political propaganda and hate speech also spread easily through the internet, so the European Parliament discussed these issues at its session of April 5th 2017.
Especially susceptible to these Fake News are women at risk of exclusion, since this is a group historically detached from the public and educational spheres, which is why, according to multiple studies, they have lower digital skills and training for the use of social networks and the Internet in general, therefore making them more susceptible to Fake News that show up on-line.
In this regard, Fake News has two main objectives: one is to attract attention, to generate as many “clicks” as possible; and the other is to spread deceptive content to lead the general public in a certain direction, for example, for political purposes. This second reason is the main issue because it makes hate speech and far-right ideologies spread easily, encouraging racism, xenophobia, sexism, islamophobia, intolerance, and/or violence against many social groups.
Given that this is a common concern of the European Parliament, the Erasmus Plus Programme, and most of the European society, we have designed the project BREAKING FAKE NEWS APART TO STOP HATRED: EDUCATION FOR THE INCLUSION OF ADULT WOMEN AT RISK OF EXCLUSION. This initiative aims to promote the inclusion of women at risk of exclusion in the formal adult educational system through innovative educational tools adapted to the beneficiary groups, and based on the analysis of Fake News. These mechanisms are also generated in these women to fight hate speech, addressing racism, xenophobia, sexism, islamophobia, etc.
The educational tools developed will consist of:

– READ-THINK-ACT: an interactive educational platform for adult learning through the analysis of Fake News, specifically aimed at groups at risk of exclusion, especially women with barriers. This platform will generate a virtual learning process for adults to match the objectives established for the Initial Teaching Curriculum established in Order ECD/651/2017.
The Platform will be linked to social networks, so their users, mainly adult women at risk of social exclusion, are able to interact with it by uploading Fake News to analyze them and participate in debates. This way, students will learn in ways adapted to their needs, through an innovative methodology with high motivation capabilities, which will enhance the development of their civic and social skills, as well as their digital and critical analysis capabilities.

– REAd-REAct: a set of Open Educational Resources aimed at adult education teachers, to be used in their lessons. These resources will take Fake News as a base of analysis to develop basic competences (reading, writing, math, and digital competences), thus being a key progress to achieve higher qualifications.

The partnership of this project began working together years ago, and consists of 6 highly prestigious European entities (FEC, I. 8 de Marzo, I. Nicos Poulantzas, Cultra, Transform!AT y WIDE+), that work directly to stop hate speech at the European level, and experts in its different areas of impact (women, social inclusion, adult education, critical analysis, and the fight against hate speech in Europe). They have the ability to provide a great impact to the project and to reach agreements with local and regional governments, but also national ones, in order to provide the results with a real and very significant applicability throughout Europe. In this regard, the association includes large national entities with political and institutional representation in each of the participating countries, and has direct dialogue capabilities with the European Parliament and Commission.
This project will be carried out during a 24-month dynamic and high-quality work, including 4 Transnational Meetings, national activities, dissemination activities, and a large Multiplier Event in Madrid (SPAIN), in which partner organizations, teachers, and adult education policy makers throughout Europe will participate.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 127875 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fundación por la Europa de los Ciudadanos & Country: ES

Project Partners

• TRANSFORM!AT
• Nicos Poulantzas Institute
• March 8 Institute
• Women In Development Europe+ (WIDE+)
• Cooperativa Culturas do Trabalho e Socialismo, CRL