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Skepsis Movement

Critical Power. Spain, Vilanova de Arousa, 2022

The "Critical Power" training course, which was held in Vilanova de Arousa, Spain in March 2022, was part of the Erasmus+ program. It was conducted within the context of the Skepsis movement.

The "Critical Power" training course funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ programme, brought together 20 youth workers from Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Belarus, Georgia, Greece, Malta, and Spain to develop critical thinking skills and information analysis techniques.

The course, taught using non-formal education methods by Veronika Kurkina, an expert in fake news, was made even more relevant by the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and the accompanying propaganda and misinformation.

Through group work and discussions, participants were able to analyze propaganda, disinformation, and misinformation techniques and learn how to fact-check information.

Here you can find verified sources about the situation in Ukraine: https://war.ukraine.ua/support-ukraine/
Different ways how you can help Ukraine from any place of the world (not only financially): https://linktr.ee/ukraine_ua

Project was organised by Logos together with partners Arousa Moza and supported by Erasmus+  programme.

Participants of the project in international teams created 4 tools for critical thinking promotion among youngsters that are open for public, below you can find more information about it:

1. How to understand what biases and framing are and how they affect our processing.

3. How to understand the knowledge of forming arguments for a conversation with person who is misinformed.

2. How to recognize fake photos and media manipulations based on them.

4. How to understand the spectrum of opinion and use it during everyday life decisions.

Skepsis. Learning never ends. Kolin, Czech Republic, 2021

“Skepsis. Learning never ends” is a training course that was held in Kolin, Czech republic. This project was about critical thinking and media literacy, made as a part of the international Skepsis Movement.

For 7 days participants discussed fake news and how they are spreading. How people and institutions manipulate our opinion. How countries wield propaganda and what we should do with that. We debated about active citizenship and democracy, played lots of Kahoots and got everyone a pair of beautiful Skepsis socks.

As a part of the project, participants developed some workshops, which could be used by youth workers, educators and NGO activists when educating about critical thinking and media literacy. And now we want to share them with you:

  • Fake news, Fake Photos. This workshop will let you understand how to spot fake news and fake photos. 
  • Gender stereotypes in media. You will learn about gender stereotypes on the media, recognize them, find new solutions in order to break them.
  • Manipulation during elections workshop will give you understanding which techniques are used during the elections to manipulate voters behaviour.
  • Defeating propaganda workshop will teach people about techniques of propaganda used in politics and commercials and how to not be influenced by them
  • Thanks to the Soft power in movies, TV shows workshop one will learn how soft power is used in movies and TV shows and how they influence our perception to events presented in scenes
  • Strategies for developing critical thinking. This workshop will let you understand the methods of developing critical thinking and choose the one suitable for you

This project was implemented by Logos and CEFIG together with partners E U R O S U D , CIA Gostivar, Labdaros ir paramos fondas „G vaikų pasaulis", Goodness of People Sweden, GEYC, Asociación Las Niñas del Tul with the support of the Czech National agency and Erasmus+  programme.

Each folder contains workshop description and all necessary materials, printouts. Feel free to use these tools in your work and share it with your partners!

Fake news, Fake Photos.

Gender stereotypes in media.

Manipulation during elections workshop

Defeating propaganda workshop

 

 Soft power in movies, TV shows workshop 

Strategies for developing critical thinking.

Critical force. Poznan, Poland, 2021

Critical force was a training course that took place in Poznan, Polan in July, 2021. This training course was devoted to topics of critical thinking and media literacy. It was hosted by Logos Polska and implemented by a consortium of partners from different programme and partner countries. The audience of the training course were youth workers, youth leaders and NGO activists.

At this training course we covered various topics:

  • Cognitive biases
  • Logical fallacies
  • Media literacy
  • Misconceptions
  • Strategies for development of the Critical Thinking
  • Fighting propaganda
  • Photo fakes
  • Debunking fakes
  • Working with sources
  • Fact-checking
  • Experiential learning and non-formal education
  • Developing own workshops and activities

We made 2 open events - an intercultural party that took place in the local bar Barbarka and an open event to present the results of the project developed by participants. We had around 60 people at intercultural event and about 35 at the project results presentation event.

Project partners:

  • Logos Polska
  • Planbe Plan It Be It (Cyprus)
  • «Karas» (Belarus)
  • VsI Kurybingumo ir Inovaciju Centras, Lithuania
  • Logos Ukraine
  • Solidaried'arte (Portugal)
  • Moldoway (Moldova)
  • ALTER EGO (Greece)

This project was supported by the Polish national agency and Erasmus+ programme

Training course "Critical force" was made as a part of the international Skepsis movement

Please see the results of the project - different workshops made by participants of the training course

Skepsis – critical thinking in tools. Beziers, France, 2021

Skepsis - critical thinking in tools was an international training course that was developed by Logos and AFRL. We spoke about critical thinking, media literacy, fakes, misinformation, misconceptions, cognitive biases and much more. This project was implemented within the international Skepsis movement devoted to the development of critical thinking and media literacy

During the project, we had a meeting with the mayor of Agde. Mister Gilles D'Ettore met with participants of the training course to discuss youth participation and the role of media in political life. They also learned about the history of the city and asked questions directly to the Mayor. That was a pleasant and interesting meeting for us.

After receiving knowledge on the topic, participants created their own tools and ideas about critical thinking.

At the end of the project, we made an open online event (https://www.facebook.com/events/282275840007966) to share tools and ideas that participants of the training course developed. This open event was attended by people from 9 different countries.

We want to thank our lovely partner Amitie Franco Russe Languedoc for organising it, our other lovely partners for supporting and taking part Baltijas Reģionālais fonds Brno for you, z.s. Asociación Las Niñas del Tul Pozitiva Samobor PlanBe, Plan it Be it Global Union for Innovations, Development and Education - GUIDE

This project was supported by Erasmus+ programme and Agence Erasmus+ France Jeunesse & Sport. Thank you very much for helping us!

Tools

At the project, participants worked to create various tools which could be used for education on critical thinking and media literacy. See them below and feel free to use any that you find interesting.

Cognitive Bias Practical Activity

This game aims to be aware of how easily you can be tricked by your brain by putting in practice various cognitive biases in a funny way. (30-45mn)

Posters about critical thinking

Use these posters to illustrate your workshop on critical thinking or for decoration

Critical thinking online interactive game

Play together with Skepsotron to learn about misconceptions and fakes. Click the link to play - https://www.thinglink.com/video/1437027929220448258. Or you can play it on our website below

Think critical. Skepsis. Poznan, Poland, 2020

During 23-30 of August, under the coordination of Logos NGO, we had a possibility to implement a project "Think critical. Skepsis" in Poznan, Poland. This project was implemented within the Skepsis movement 
For a whole week, we have been working on the themes of critical thinking and media literacy with 4 countries: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Trainers presented some interesting information on cognitive biases, logical fallacies, misconceptions, fake news, and fake photos. Then, participants were asked to create their own workshops and they did it in an amazing way:
- Some of them staged interactive theatre including logical fallacies and cognitive biases.
- Some people designed stickers on "Smart fact-checking"
- Another team made a Kahoot presentation of biases.
- Moreover, one team decided to involve an article analysis of the Russian vaccine.
- And the last team also did an incredible thing. They filmed a video, a social experiment, you already saw on our page.
Unfortunately, the project is over. Everybody is already home. Because of the pandemic situation, some activities were cancelled, but anyway, the project was really educational.
Don’t forget that the learning process can be also fun and not exhausting!
The project was supported by International Visegrad Fund.
We have created a website where all the outcomes you can find. You can definitely use it and share it with others.

Logos organization and Skepsis movement are thankful to all of you, partners, and participants, for this educational project to happen. We hope you found out new knowledge or at least now know the direction to move on.

This project was developed and hosted by Logos and implemented together with our great partners:

Critical thinking – healthy food for your mind. Beziers, France, 2019

Youth Exchange “Critical Thinking- Healthy Food For Your Mind” took place in France, Beziers on 14-22nd of October, 2019. We made  this youth exchange within the framework of the international Skepsis movement. Our dear partners from France -  Amitie Franco Russe Languedoc "AFR" hosted this project.

The project aimed to gather young people from 6 countries and let them work closely to increase the involvement of youth organisations in partnership projects in the youth field. Participants shared experiences, worked with non-formal tools to develop critical thinking and media literacy skills and ideas for future activities and projects in the youth field and within Skepsis movement.

A long term goal for the conference and for the movement is to raise participants awareness and understanding of other cultures and countries through reducing of the negative influence of disinformation and takes which produce hatred and can lead to the rise of intolerance and discrimination.

Project partners.

We implemented this project together with the group of partners from the EU and partner countries:

Logos Polska

Karas

AFRL

Logos Ukraine

Opora

Logos Latvia

Logos NGO

Project results.

At the project participants learned about critical thinking and media literacy. As it was youth exchange they created their own educational materials on the topic. When working in groups they made some videos, memes, collages. All of these materials were later presented on a web-site made by one of the project participants - Vadym Havrylenko

The web-site is available at this link - https://cthffym.logos.ngo/ and we welcome you to check it out.

Thinking habit. Riga, Latvia, 2019

About the project

"Thinking habit" was an international training course that took place in Latvia between 6th and 13th of October, 2019. At this training course, we worked with youth workers to develop their critical thinking skills. We also created workshops to develop critical thinking in local communities. This training course was developed by Logos and Baltic Regional Fund and implemented within Skepsis framework. The project was made under Erasmus+ programme and supported by the Latvian National agency.

Project aim

Our aim was to increase critical thinking skills among youth leaders, youth workers and NGO activists and their stakeholders through learning about tools and methods to improve critical thinking and by creating tools and workshops which later would be used in local communities.

Objectives

  • Increase critical thinking skill which is a relevant skill not only for civil society but for youngsters striving to be employed as well
  • Improve quality of youth work in partner organisations through cooperation between them and/or other stakeholders within the Skepsis
  • Promote active citizenship and and understanding of democratic processes through knowledge on critical thinking and media literacy
  • Create tools and workshops about critical thinking for youth workers which can later be applied at local communities
  • Fight fakes, propaganda, prejudice, misinformation,etc.
  • Develop new activities within the Skepsis to have better continuation and spreading of ideas about critical thinking

How did it go

At the training course, we started with learning about basics of critical thinking and media literacy, diving into the world of fakes, biases, logical fallacies and conspiracy theories. After that participants developed their own ideas for workshops about critical thinking and media literacy. At the end of the training course, we made an open event open for external guests. At this event, attended by almost 50 people, we introduced the idea of Skepsis movement and presented workshops made by participants.

Workshops made by participants

Below you can find results of participants' work - workshops that were created at the training course.

How to make a decision using critical thinking - "Are you well equipped to take decisions". This workshop was originally prepared for the people who are taking leadership roles in NGOs and are looking for a ways to make decisions within their organisations. But as we practiced the workshop we found out that it can be applied to anyone who is in the process of making a decisions, including personal
ones. At the project we tested the method on about 10 people, who managed to take decisions on issues they had.


How to recognise fake news using CRAAP method - "Cut the CRAAP".  This workshop was developed by the group of participants who wanted to have an easy tool to detect fakes in media. It was originally created to be used during the upcoming Youth Exchange that one of the participants was preparing. CRAAP method is about analysing the article with 5 different arguments: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose.


How to spot fake news - "Do you news?". This workshop has its goal of introducing learners to basic concepts of critical thinking and media literacy. It can be used in the class by teachers with some practical examples and debates included.


Applying critical thinking when using social networks - "Mind in action". At this workshop, there were several learning objectives - to present the tool to recognise truth from false, to bring participants attention to the content they consume, to make learners think before they post something in media. Main specifics of this workshop is that it is about social media usage and this is one of the most important topics today.


Affect of media on young people's life - "Should we believe in media?". This workshop is mainly about the media and helps learners to understand that not all that seem true is true and also to identify pros and cons about social media framing. Also this workshops includes many visual examples of fakes and misinformation which would be interesting for young people.


How our background affects how we perceive information - "Tell your story". At this workshop, learners get to see how their background affects the way they see the information. What makes this workshop different is that it can be made for young people aged 7-14.

Get yourself empowered. Groningen, Netherlands, 2019

About the project
"Get yourself empowered" was a Youth exchange held in the city of Groningen, the Netherlands during the period of 23rd of June – 1st of July, 2019. This YE brought together 30 participants from Spain, Latvia, Poland, Greece, Romania and The Netherlands. This was the first youth exchange to be hosted by Logos Netherlands

Being millennials, we are raised in this society where social media, internet-of-things and innovative technologies are very important in our daily lives. How does this actually affect us and how are we dealing with it?
We are used to the fact that we can Google everything, which makes information easily accessible. But is all of this information honest and trustworthy? The availability of information and our fast-growing society puts also pressure on us to perform. On the one hand: this allows us to grow, which is great. On the other hand: how do we deal with this pressure?
During the exchange we focused on answering this question by providing participants with a ‘mental’ toolkit, and experiencing the topic from different viewpoints with the ultimate goal of empowering ourselves and the people around us.

Project Aim

We equipped youth between 20-30 years with tools to empower themselves on critical thinking and mental health. This resulted in more aware and knowledgeable youngsters
which went home with tools and ideas on critical thinking and mental health. They can apply these tools in their daily life and local organizations

Project objectives

- To introduce the topic of mental health
- To understand the power of critical thinking
- To recognize fake news and false information
- To equip participants with a set of practical tools to deploy critical thinking and mindfulness
- To test different mind growth techniques, such as yoga / pilates, mindfulness, bodymind connection, clean listening, meditation, sports, expressing emotions, and many more.
- To promote mental health and the use of positive psychology
- To learn from each other’s cultures
- To have fun!

Check this video from the project:

Critical Thinking. Information hygiene. Madaba, Jordan, 2019

Youth exchange “Critical thinking, informational hygiene.” was made in Madaba, Jordan from 15 till 24 of June 2019. This Youth exchange was supported by the Poland National Agency within Erasmus+ programme. This project was made within the Skepsis movement framework.

Together with young people from 6 countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Spain, Ukraine, Poland and Norway we were trying to become more critical about the information we consume.

Project had following objectives:

  • To increase understanding of how media and social networks affect our perception
  • To increase media literacy among the participants
  • To develop skills of critical thinking among participants
  • To create possible activities for the Skepsis movement
  • To find common ground and innovative ideas for future partnerships
  • To raise participants' awareness and understanding of other cultures and countries

As a result of this project, participants created various tools for developing critical thinking and media literacy. Theses tools include workshop, videos, infographics, quest, etc. You can find them as well as other materials on critical thinking in the Skepsis movement open folder:

 

Critical thinking Youth FORCE. Riga, Latvia, 2019

About the project

Critical thinking Youth Force was a Youth exchange that was hosted by Logos Latvia between 25th of April and 3rd of May 2019. This project was supported by the Latvian national agency as part of Erasmus+ programme and made within Skepsis movement framework. At this project we had 30 young people from Poland, Latvia, Czechia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Croatia.

Our aim
We aimed to share with all participants the initial idea of the Skepsis movement, and give them an opportunity to be part of it through developing various materials connected to topics of critical thinking and media literacy.

We had the following objectives:

  • To increase understanding of how media and social networks affect our perception;
  • To increase media literacy among the participants;
  • To develop skills of critical thinking among participants;
  • To create the possible activities for the Skepsis movement devoted to the critical thinking and media literacy;
  • To find common ground and innovative ideas for future partnership working using the skills and knowledge of people from diverse backgrounds;
  • To develop future projects on the topic;
  • To raise participants' awareness and understanding of other cultures and countries;
  • To create a comics book.

Project results

At the project participants worked in several groups creating various materials connected with critical thinking. We presented these materials at the open event that took place in Riga in Bambus office. Below you can see the results of their work:

Brochure with basic information about critical thinking

Critical thinking promotion handbook

Debate activity

City quest

Video comics

Music video

Project partners

Logos Poland and Latvia

Modern Youth Academy

Institute of Youth power

Asociate Tom CR, Tom 21105 Dumanci

IYCEIP