CheckMate

Project Acronym: CheckMate

Action Type: KA220-ADU – Cooperation partnerships in adult education

Project title: Empowering Europeans towards a Media-Savvy Citizenry

https://checkmate.bgfe.eu/

Project description:

CheckMate project has four central objectives.

• Firstly, it aims to further support the cause of tackling mis- and disinformation and, by extension, limit its consequences among the people directly or indirectly affected by the project’s activities. Strong emphasis will be placed in mapping out best existing practices and bringing the relevant international, European and national legal framework closer to the citizens.
• Secondly, it aims to increase media literacy among adults by training participants in various methods and strategies to critically question and counter information.
• Thirdly, Checkmate will raise awareness and promote dialogue on tackling by bringing together a network of stakeholders from various industries.
• Lastly, it looks to promote the use of advanced technologies as a solution to misinformation.

Deliverables:

WP2: Tackling Misinformation and Digital Media Literacy Adult Best Practice Guide)

CheckMate will essentially develop a good practice guide on the dual topics of tackling media misinformation and effective ways to sharpen media literacy.

• A national report gathering best practices on tackling misinformation and improving media literacy among adults, focusing on vulnerable groups where effects appear to be rather exacerbated
• A qualitative data collection and synthesis report deriving from all types of consultations conducted on the stakeholders involved, mainly focusing on local citizens, mapping various types of information, such as how they related to the issue, causes and consequences, etc.
• The final version of the Good practice guide, available in all the languages of the consortium. The Guide will be designed and developed to be utilised by all targets mentioned in the proposal including but not limited to citizens, journalists and media outlets, legal and digitalization experts, local authorities, environmental CSOs, lifelong learning centres, policy makers and influencers.

WP3: Tackling Media Misinformation Networking and Workshops on the Metaverse

• The CheckMate project will develop a multi-disciplinary network of stakeholders that are directly or indirectly implicated in the production, regulation and dissemination of information, involving groups such as news agencies, social media influencers, journalists, local authorities, adult and youth organisations, educators, legal experts, web developers, etc.
• A document outlining the conceptual design and microstructure of the Metaverse Networking Platform, involving features, such as avatar and venue customisation, networking tools, analytics, integration with other applications, etc.
• The Metaverse platform with all features above.

Material, involving trends analysis, methodological tools to approach the matter, creative spaces for development of innovative solutions, questionnaires, surveys, expected outcomes, etc. to be used in the information sessions and workshops.

Establishment of 6 national multi-disciplinary networks on tackling media misinformation and organisation of digital and/or physical information sessions and thematic workshops.

Impact assessment report, closing the circle opened through the organisation report. The impact assessment report shall report on the outcomes of the information sessions and the thematic workshops, awareness raised, their capacity to become incubators of innovative ideas, etc.

A report containing the methodological principles, educational approaches, structure and expected outcomes of the training course.

WP4: Media literacy training and web browsing extension tool

• Partners will conduct desk research and contribute with their ideas on the courses’ content. A presentation of the web-extension toolkit, which shall involve the design of all technical specifications and functions.
• The digital media literacy e-course, which will include multiple units. Some of its indicative units may contain an Introduction to Misinformation, International Law and Misinformation, Understanding Cognitive Biases (e.g. Dunning-Kruger effect), Evaluating Sources (bias, fact-checking, and source credibility), Analysing Social Media (algorithms, fake accounts and bots), Identifying Conspiracy Theories, Ethics of Information Sharing, Fighting Misinformation.
• Translations of the e-course in each partner country in the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Greek.
• The digital tool that shall involve the web browsing extension application, which will be free of charge, and able to be installed on Google Chrome.
• A training evaluation report, where partners shall evaluate the implementation of the course, its take-up by participants, their capacities to use digital tools, and the transferability of the course.

Partnership:

• BürgerInnen Forum Europa, Austria, Wien, https://www.buerger forum-europa.at/
• NEAPOLIS UNIVERSITY, Cyprus, PAFOS nup.ac.cy
• Athens Lifelong Learning Institute – Civil Non-Profit Organisation Greece, athenslifelonglearning.gr
• CENTRO PER LO SVILUPPO CREATIVO DANILO DOLCI, Italy, Sicilia PALERMO danilodolci.org
• SYNCNIFY, France, Île de France, Paris https://syncnify.fr/
• VsI Socialiniu inovaciju centras Lithuania, Šiaulių apskritis, Siauliai socin.lt

Publications:

• Taxitari, L., Sitistas, T., & Gavriil, E. (2025). “Disinformation Aims to Mislead; Misinformation Thrives in Ignorance”: Insights from Experts and Non-Experts in Greek-Speaking Cyprus. Social Sciences, 14(3), 133. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14030133