IS IT SAFE TO SAY A WORD
ERASMUS+ training course
PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY
27 April – 3 March 2026 |CISS SUD-SUD, PALERMO, ITALY
*(6 activity days + 2 travel days)*
Countries: Latvia · Estonia · Cyprus · Palestine · Jordan · Poland · Italy· Ukraine
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
- Youth workers, ypouth leaders, active memebers in youth organizatios, age 18+, no upper age limit
- No prior experience needed — just curiosity and a willingness to show up
- 24 participants + 2 trainers
IT’S COMPLETELY FREE
Erasmus+ covers everything: travel, accommodation, food, and all activities. Your only job is to come ready.
This Erasmus+ training course “Is it Safe to Say a Word?” is an international professional development activity for youth workers and youth leaders focusing on media activism, digital resilience and inclusive work with refugee and migrant youth.
Project description
“Is it Safe to Say a Word?” (ISSW) is a training course designed to equip youth workers, youth leaders and activists with practical tools to recognise disinformation, propaganda and manipulative narratives, and to safely engage in social and media activism with and for young people with fewer opportunities, including refugees and migrants.
The project responds to the reality that the digital environment has become the main space for youth communication and participation, while also being a space where fake news, hate speech and information attacks particularly target young people affected by war, forced displacement and social exclusion.
Through interactive workshops, creative content production and peer learning, participants will strengthen their ability to support young people’s critical thinking, safeguard their digital rights and mental well-being, and design inclusive online campaigns that build social cohesion instead of polarisation.
Dates and venue
The activity will take place in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, hosted by CISS Italia, a long-standing NGO active in international cooperation and youth work
Project activity dates are 27 March – 03 April 2026, with participants arriving on 27 March and departing on 03 April (possibility to arrive up to two days earlier or depart up to two days later at own cost)
Accommodation will be provided in Domus Carmelitana in central Palermo, with training sessions held at Casa della Cooperazione, CISS Italia’s cultural hub.
Participants profile
Each partner country sends a group of 3 participants, coming from Cyprus, Ukraine, Latvia, Jordan, Palestine, Poland, Estonia and Italy.
Participants are adults (18+, no upper age limit) who are youth workers, youth leaders, volunteers, media activists or multipliers already involved in, or strongly motivated to engage in, social activism in the media and digital communities with young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, migrants and refugees.
They should be ready to actively contribute, share their local realities and practices, and experiment with creating online content (e.g. posts, short videos, campaigns) during and after the training as part of project dissemination.
Aims and objectives
The overall aim of ISSW is to strengthen the capacity of youth workers and organisations to support safe, inclusive and critical participation of young people in the digital public space, with a special focus on refugee and conflict‑affected youth
Key objectives are:
- To deepen participants’ understanding of disinformation, propaganda, narrative framing and media monopoly, and their impact on vulnerable young people.
- To develop practical skills for recognising fake news and manipulative content, and for countering online hate and digital pressure through responsible media activism.
- To explore creative forms of activism and content creation (e.g. TikTok, short posts, songs) that engage young people in positive, rights‑based online participation.
- To strengthen competencies in cyber self‑care, digital resilience, anonymity and security (VPN use, risk awareness, typical mistakes) for activists and youth workers.
- To build a sustainable network of NGOs and youth organisations from Europe and neighbouring regions committed to developing follow‑up Erasmus+ projects supporting refugee and migrant youth through digital and educational initiatives.
APPLY NOW
The next chapter of the Phoenix begins on 27 June 2026. Your recruiter is waiting.
→APPLY NOW PLEASE READ INFO PACK BEFORE APPLYING ISSW-Erasmus-INFO-PACK-2026_compressed.pdf
Not sure yet? Reach out at alternativarealitate@gmail.com — we’ll answer every question.
Co-funded by the European Union. This publication reflects the views of the author only and not necessarily those of the European Union, the European Commission, or the National Agency (Agency for International Youth Programmes).
RESULTS OF THE PROJECT: TOOLKIT “IS IT SAFE TO SAY A WORD?”
