Conference Program

This paper examines DE.CO.DE, a pilot initiative in the Lake Geneva region that positions young people aged 15 to 25 as active agents in strengthening democratic culture in the face of disinformation, deepfakes, and artificial intelligence. Rather than treating media literacy as a technical competence alone, the project conceptualises it as a democratic practice grounded in collective inquiry, public reasoning, and shared responsibility.

DE.CO.DE is framed as a multi level Learning Community structured around youth participation and agency. At the micro level, workshops function as youth to youth democratic spaces in which participants critically analyse digital content, examine the political implications of algorithmic systems, and deliberate on norms for responsible engagement in public debate. Pedagogical approaches include problem based learning, debate, and facilitated collective reflection, with a sustained emphasis on voice, reciprocity, and the co construction of knowledge.

At the ecosystem level, the initiative connects a university research centre, schools, journalists, youth networks, and civic actors in Geneva and Vaud, forming a cross sector learning community in which young people engage directly with researchers, educators, and media professionals around questions of democratic responsibility in digital environments in Switzerland and beyond. This interorganizational dimension extends democratic learning beyond formal classrooms and situates youth participation within a broader regional process aimed at strengthening democratic resilience.

The initiative further integrates journalists with international field experience and a participant cohort composed of both locally embedded youth and international students, deliberately creating a space for the exchange of situated media experiences across diverse political and cultural contexts.

By linking youth engagement at the local level to global information disorders, and by connecting both local and international youths living in the region, the paper argues that youth centred Learning Communities can operate as democratic infrastructures that cultivate critical judgement, systems thinking, and collaborative capacities. It also reflects on the institutional and pedagogical conditions required to sustain democratic participation and interorganizational learning over time.