Interested to find out more about media literacy and its status in Croatian society? What are the policy documents and existing research that tackle this topic? If you are interested to find out more, then continue to read down below! We bring you a series of articles analyzing different documents and statistics on the national level! The analysis was created within the project “Media and information literacy for climate change and environmental topics” funded by Erasmus+ Programme.
Welcome to our Part 3! You can read Part 1 dealing with Croatian laws HERE or Part 2 dealing with ethical codes HERE.
The third document we analyse is the National Youth Programme which is being implemented between 2023 and 2025. It is a short-term strategic document which directs youth policy in Croatia. It consists of six priority areas with 28 measures including: youth work, social youth participation, youth education, youth and European Union, youth in rural areas and health and crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vision of the National Youth Programme is as follows: Young people in Croatia are empowered for dealing with the challenges of contemporary society, for active and responsible participation in its development as well as developing their own potential for self-realisation and participation in social activities.
Guided by the vision for youth, all key stakeholders in society will act with a purpose to ensure a safe environment to implement quality youth work which involves young people into activities which strengthen their ability to create a change in society and social participation.
The Programme promotes the development of media literacy among children and youth to prepare them for responsible participation in media and digital environments, and to make them aware of all the dangers and risks of engaging in those environments.
Based on all the research data that was collected on this topic among children and youth in Croatia over the recent years, the Programme points out that it is necessary to approach media literacy education in a holistic and cross-sectoral way. There is a need for systemic and coordinated empowerment of youth to develop their media literacy skills, as well as empowerment of teachers and educational staff who will implement media literacy in schools and faculties.
As a result of the National Youth Programme, there was a substantial amount of the national budget that was dedicated to fund programmes of empowering media literacy among youth which will be implemented in the period between 2023 and 2025. Media literacy is an important competence to develop in contemporary society which aims at better understanding of new technologies and new information we are faced with on a daily basis, especially when it comes to combating fake news which creates a great impact on young people who are the most active users of social media and digital platforms.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
If you are a youth worker, follow the implementation of the measures of the National Programme for Youth, especially the ones dealing with media literacy. Connect with other youth workers to see how to support the better implementation of the document. Also, educate young people that there is a key strategic document that is shaping their lives and motivate them to be vocal about the importance of creating this document in a participatory and meaningful way.
This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
