A publication dedicated to the role of Generations Z and Alpha as active digital citizens: More than Go with the Flow: From Platform Users to Active Citizens. The digital world is a space for participation, creativity and social engagement. The publication is part of the DARE – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe – Facilitator’s Handbook series and offers practical guidance for youth workers, trainers and educators working with young people in digital environments.
Young people as citizens, not just platforms consumers
The Handbook “More than Go with the Flow” sees young people not just as users of technology, but as citizens with rights, responsibilities and the potential to shape digital society. It promotes educational approaches that develop:
• critical thinking about digital platforms and algorithms;
• understanding of rights and responsibilities online;
• active participation in democratic processes in a digital environment;
• ethical digital culture.
European and global dimension
The Handbook draws attention to the fact that digital policies are increasingly shaped at European and global level. Education must therefore prepare young people to understand these processes and participate in them in an informed manner – from data protection and platform regulations to the environmental and social consequences of the digital economy. The publication presents digital education as a field of experimentation and empowerment, where curiosity and critical thinking go hand in hand. It promotes interactive and playful approaches, media literacy and content creation as tools for active civic participation. The topics of digital identity, digitalization and the environmental consequences and civic participation and governance of the digital are well presented by the authors of the publication Markus Plascencia-Kanzler (Austria), Eliza Rapetti (Italy) and Nils-Eik Zimmermann (Germany).
The handbook was developed within the framework of the international project DIYW-ROAD – Digital Youth Work – Rights-sensitive, Open, Accessible, coordinated by Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten e. V. AdB (Germany) in partnership with Sozialprofil (Austria), DARE (Belgium), Partners Bulgaria Foundation (Bulgaria), Fundación CIVES (Spain) and Associação Dinamo (Portugal).
The project is supported by the Erasmus+ programme between June 2024 and July 2026.
