13 December 2019

Young Digital Leaders 2019 - Final Event


Young Digital Leaders is a Europe-wide programme that aims to empower young people through digital citizenship, critical thinking and media literacy skills that reach beyond the classroom, so that they can be truly empowered as responsible digital leaders. What started off with a meeting in Brussels in February this year ended with an event during which the partners presented their achievements, shared good practices and brainstormed together about the lessons learned and the road ahead.


The programme was created to equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to be safe, effective and empowered online citizens in the 21st century. It also sought to upskill teachers and parents so they could more proactively support this process, with a better understanding of the challenges faced online. The second phase was built on a 2018 YDL pilot, which you can find out more about here.



On December 11th, the partners from Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, along with ISD gathered in Brussels, at the Google headquarters, in order to discuss highlights and achievements, exchange good practices and hear feedback from the teachers and students who were present at the meeting. 



Romania was represented by Adelina, Project Manager, and Alexandra on behalf of GEYC, a teacher and a student from Colegiul Național Mircea cel Bătrân (Râmnicu Vâlcea) and a teacher and a student from Liceul Tehnologic de Industrie Alimentară (Fetești).

Young Digital Leaders has been a revelation in Romania. We were amazed to see the willingness to learn and teach others about digital citizenship. Romania has a difficult political situation, you need to make micro-changes in order to build up and truly make a national impact, and that is exactly what we have started through this initiative. (Adelina DRAGOMIR, Project Manager)

Young Digital Leaders in Romania was truly a national programme, which had several phases:
  • Student Workshops delivered by the GEYC team in 3 locations - Ploiești, Reșița and Slatina, reaching more than 450 students
  • 10 Teacher Trainings in 5 locations (București, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Oradea, Constanța), reaching 251 teachers from all around the country
  • Workshops in schools, delivered by the teachers we trained, reaching over 6100 students
  • Policy events in Ploiești, Fetești and Oțelu Roșu, during which we shared the results of the YDL program at the regional level by connecting this experience to possible initiatives to further integrate YDL into the school curriculum.
Red - Student Workshops delivered by GEYC, Yellow - Teacher Trainings, Green - monitoring teachers who implemented the programme, Purple - student workshops delivered by the teachers we trained


Overall, Young Digital Leaders was a success, showcasing the need for Digital Citizenship Education in the school curriculum and the reality that more opportunities must be provided for young people to demonstrate and apply their digital citizenship beyond the classroom.

At the end of the year, a final report will be made public, summarising all the achievements and recommendations from a policy perspective, so be on the lookout for that!