Category: News

At the end of October 2025, the project partners gathered in Barcelona for a two-day kick-off meeting to launch the new SUM project, building on the results and lessons learned from the previous project.

With SUM, we aim to empower people aged 60 and over to better recognise and understand disinformation. Through train-the-trainer sessions in the four participating countries (Belgium, Italy, Spain & Czechia), older adults will gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to spot misleading content and navigate today’s complex information landscape. They will then pass this knowledge on to their peers through peer-to-peer activities, creating a ripple effect within their own communities.

The two-day meeting also marked the first opportunity for all partners to meet each other in person and strengthen their collaboration. The consortium brings together a diverse group of organisations, including Mediawijs, VVBAD, Verificat, Federación de Sindicatos de Periodistas, No Control, Lepida, and Transitions. Each partner contributes unique expertise in media literacy, journalism, education, and community engagement.

Day one focused on setting the scene. Project coordinator Mediawijs presented the overall project outline, goals, and timeline, giving everyone a shared understanding of what SUM aims to achieve in the coming years. The SUM toolkit was also introduced. Developed during the previous project, this practical resource offers guidance for organisations on how to organise effective train-the-trainer sessions and support peer-to-peer learning activities.

On day two, the focus shifted to exchange and inspiration. Partners shared tools, projects, and best practices from their own countries, offering valuable insights that can feed directly into the new SUM activities. The meeting concluded with collaborative group work, where partners began mapping out concrete first steps and exploring how to launch activities locally in each country.

With strong partnerships, shared expertise, and plenty of ideas on the table, the SUM project is off to a promising start.

𝟮𝟲 𝗡𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗥𝗘, 𝗱𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝟭𝟬:𝟬𝟬
𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗼, 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘇𝘇𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘇𝘇𝗶, Via Zamboni, 13 Bologna BO

Within the framework of the Festival of Technical Culture, which has as one of its themes the use of technology as a tool for inclusion and participation, the presentation event of our project SUM – A peer-to-peer training to combat misinformation among older people and in their environment was held.

Speakers included:

• Franco Cima, Councillor of the Metropolitan City of Bologna – Metropolitan Digital Agenda, European Policies
• Fabrizia Paltrinieri, Director of Education and Social Development Sector, Metropolitan City of Bologna
• Teresa Gallelli, ULG Digi-Inclusion Coordinator, Lepida SPA

At the end of the presentation of the results of the SUM project, a space was set aside to reflect together and deepen the synergies between DIGI-INCLUSION and SUM in order to rafforce common objectives and assess the integration of SUM tools with the actions in the Integration Action Plan.

Organised by: Metropolitan City of Bologna, SUM, Housatonic

We worked on the definition of a visual identity that encapsulated two fundamental concepts for the project: the centrality of people, both as trainers and as end users of the content, and the link with the tech and digital world.

We developed a very simple and symbolic illustrative style, starting from elementary shapes and then evolving them into a set of icons useful for communication materials.

The logo is the result of this reasoning, and sees three stylised figures composing the acronym SUM (seniors united against misinformation) alternating the color gray and blue. The result can be easily applied on both paper and digital materials, and has a good print yield even in black and white.

The visual identity that has been defined has therefore taken into account the reading needs of an elderly audience, using clear and readable fonts at all sizes, and with a basic palette that alternates black and white with gray and electric blue. The color palette is also a link to the technological universe.

The website developed has a clean and intuitive structure, only in English version for now, using illustrations to orient the user to the various sections.

All communication materials, from flyers to powerpoints for use during training sessions, have always favored pages that are not too dense with content, with attention to font size and the use of photos and videos only when necessary and of an appropriate size.