Navarre leads this Creative Europe-funded initiative to combat disinformation, digital scams and digital exclusion among people over the age of 65
The President of the Government of Navarre, María Chivite, has inaugurated the official launch session of the European project INMERS, International Media Literacy – Empowered Rural Seniors, at the European Parliament in Brussels. The initiative is funded by the Creative Europe programme, CREA – Media Literacy, and aims to strengthen media literacy among people over the age of 65 living in rural areas across Europe. The project is led by the Directorate-General for Planning, Coordination, Innovation and Evaluation of Public Policies, part of the Department of Presidency and Equality.
The event was held within the framework of the European Committee of the Regions and brought together all consortium partners from Navarre, Finland and Romania, as well as institutional representatives including Navarrese Member of the European Parliament Elena Sancho, accompanied by Idoia Mendia, Rosa Serrano and Marcos Ros, also representatives of the European Parliament.
During her speech, President María Chivite stressed that “media literacy is not a technological issue, but a democratic one”, and pointed out that “in a context of disinformation, polarisation and the spread of digital scams, strengthening the critical capacity of older citizens means protecting their autonomy and dignity”.
As the President highlighted, “at a time when trust in institutions and in truthful information is a fundamental pillar of democratic stability, strengthening media literacy means strengthening Europe. There is an aphorism that says that the first casualty of war is truth. And in these turbulent times, marked by loud leaderships and empires that believe they can impose their truth through bombs and diplomatic bullying, I want to stand up for the Europe of the Enlightenment, which was a beacon for the free world and is called to become so once again, because there is no political space in the world that has achieved comparable levels of welfare, quality of life, security, social justice and progress. Let us reaffirm ourselves as Europeans, in all our plurality, with the strength of words. Against the noise of bombs, democracy,” she said.
Chivite also emphasised that INMERS responds to structural challenges shared by European regions such as Navarre, Lapland and Transylvania: population ageing, territorial dispersion and the digital divide, with particular attention to multilingual contexts.
“Territorial cohesion and digital cohesion go hand in hand. We cannot speak of a strong Europe if we leave behind those who most need support in accessing information,” she stated.
The project will work in three pilot territories — Navarre, Lapland and Transylvania — over a period of two years to assess the level of media literacy among older people, analyse vulnerabilities to disinformation, design adapted training materials, develop practical workshops and produce a European Media Literacy Guide.
Local trainers will also be trained to ensure the sustainability of the project, and the impact of the actions will be evaluated, with the results disseminated at European level.
The meeting was attended in person by representatives of the Directorate-General for Planning, Coordination, Innovation and Evaluation of Public Policies of the Department of Presidency and Equality, the University of Navarra, the University of Lapland, the Romanian organisation Funky Citizens, the Navarre Institute for Constructive Journalism and the public company NASERTIC, while the remaining collaborating entities followed the session online.
The day’s programme included the institutional presentation, the overall vision of the project, the presentation of the work packages and the definition of the next milestones and implementation schedule.
Navarre, a leading region in European projects with social impact
To conclude her speech, Chivite underlined that participation in European programmes makes it possible to extend the impact of public policies beyond regional borders and to strengthen the voice of regions in European debates on digitalisation and territorial cohesion.
“Europe is not built only from the capitals; it is also built from the regions. And Navarre wants to be an active part of that construction,” she stated.
INMERS is co-funded by the European Union under the Creative Europe programme and seeks to promote the autonomy, social participation and critical capacity of older people in rural areas.