Youth and Communities against Manipulation

Aim of the project

Russia’s full-scale war has turned Ukraine’s information space into a battlefield where propaganda and disinformation undermine social cohesion and trust. Young people and local community leaders are particularly vulnerable to manipulation, yet they are also key actors in strengthening democratic resilience. “FreeMind Ukraine” forms networks of media-literate leaders, and ensures the multiplication of knowledge in the regions. 100 students from different disciplines in small and medium-sized cities, and 100 community representatives such as youth workers, librarians, educators will be selected through an open call. They will be subject to a combination of practical offline trainings, mentoring, and a multiplier mechanism in Ukrainian regions. An international cooperation with Freie Universität Berlin further enhances knowledge exchange. FreeMind Ukraine strengthens media literacy, critical thinking, and the long-term resilience of Ukrainian communities.

Training workshops in Ukraine

AUP provides both Ukrainian civil society and students with training workshops. They implement a comprehensive educational program in the field of media literacy and countering manipulation. On the one hand, community representatives, in particular educators, librarians, and activists of local non-governmental organizations will benefit from these trainings. After completion of the training, each of them will reach out to their own communities in the different regions of Ukraine. On the other hand, students will receive offline trainings, which will take place in different regions of Ukraine. The program will cover analysis of modern media manipulation and psychology of influence, fact-checking methods and work with open data, critical understanding of the use of artificial intelligence in the information space, principles of cyber hygiene and ethical communication.

The training workshops in Ukraine in August and September 2026 will be documented here:

International Forum for Ukrainian Students in Berlin

10 selected student participants will take part in a five-day study trip to Berlin. They will present their own projects, participate in joint workshops with German students and experts, and also join professional discussion of approaches to media literacy development in the European context. German guest speakers and mentors will provide further input to their projects and further implementation. The Forum will take place in November 2026.

Partners 

This project is carried out in cooperation between the Center for Media and Information Literacy (CeMIL) and the Academy of the Ukrainian Press (AUP).

The Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP) was founded in 2001 and sees its mission as establishing European and world standards of journalism in Ukrainian media. AUP is the leading NGO in Ukraine in the field of media literacy in all spheres of Ukrainian society. AUP has also established itself as a leader in this field in post-Soviet countries.

The Center for Media and Digital Literacy (CeMIL) at Freie Universität Berlin is part of the Institute for Media and Communication Studies. It comprises state-of-the-art expertise on media literacy and has long-term experience in training and research with journalists and communication scholars from East European countries.

A previous project in 2023 has focused on Media Literacy in Ukraine. More information can be found here.

Another previous project in 2024 has focused on professionalizing war reporting from Ukraine. More information can be found here.

The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Ministry in the framework of its Eastern Partnership scheme.