SMADE SMART Democracy

26/10/2026

SMART DEMOCRACY Training in Buzau, Romania
Day 1 Highlights ☀

🚀 A great start to our learning journey!

The first day of our international training course under the Erasmus+ project SMART DEMOCRACY: Digital Education and Critical Thinking for an Inclusive Society was full of learning, collaboration, creativity, and meaningful discussions!

🤝 We kicked off with ice-breaking activities, old friends and new people getting to know each other and sharing our expectations for the days ahead.

💻 Digital Inclusion & Basic Digital Skills
We explored the importance of digital inclusion, secure internet access and ways to overcome digital exclusion, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate in today's digital society.

🔎 Understanding the Online Information Environment
We dived into the world of fake news, exploring how misinformation spreads and why people believe misleading information. Great part was the mini-presentation by the representative of the Buzău County Police Inspectorate, Police Commissioner Andreea Marchidan, Coordinating Officer of the Crime Analysis and Prevention Unit.

👥 Learning by Doing!
One of the highlights of the day was our hands-on teamwork! Participants worked in international teams to complete practical activities, exchange perspectives, apply their knowledge and develop creative solutions to real-world digital challenges.

💡 Through collaboration, critical thinking and active participation, we turned theory into practice!

👏 A big thank you to all participants, trainers and our host Pro Democratia Buzau for an inspiring first day!

📲Stay tuned for more highlights from our SMART DEMOCRACY journey!
Visit our website and learn more about the project and its activities:
https://smade-erasmus.eu/

🇪🇺 Co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Programme.

09/10/2026

🤖🇪🇺 AI-generated or human-created? Transparency is essential for an informed and democratic society!

The European Commission has published its Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content, an important step towards greater transparency, digital trust and responsible use of artificial intelligence.

🔎 Why does this matter?

As AI-generated images, videos, texts and deepfakes become increasingly sophisticated, distinguishing reliable information from manipulated content is more important than ever.

Clear labelling of AI-generated content can help citizens recognise potentially misleading information, make informed decisions and navigate the digital world more safely.

🌍 How does this connect with our project?
The SMADE project aims to strengthen digital education, critical thinking and media literacy among vulnerable adults, promoting social inclusion and active democratic participation.

Through SMADE, we work to:

✅ Strengthen digital and media literacy by equipping adult educators with the skills to use digital platforms and AI responsibly.

✅ Combat disinformation and fake news by empowering vulnerable adults to critically evaluate online information and recognise misleading or manipulated content.

✅ Promote digital inclusion by making accessible educational resources available to adults who face barriers in the digital environment.

✅ Support active citizenship and democratic participation by helping adults become more informed, confident and resilient digital citizens.

💡 AI transparency and digital literacy go hand in hand.

Labelling AI-generated content is an important safeguard, but citizens also need the knowledge and critical thinking skills to understand what they see, question information sources and participate responsibly in digital society.

This is the vision behind SMADE: empowering adults through digital education, critical thinking and democratic engagement.

🔗 Read the European Commission's announcement:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1328

Visit our website for more information: https://smade-erasmus.eu/

Highlights, press releases and speeches

03/09/2026

☀️ Summer holidays are ending… but don’t let your critical thinking stay on vacation! 🧠📱

As we return to our routines, our screens quickly fill again with news, posts, headlines and “must-see” stories.

But before you like, share or believe, take a moment to ask:

🔎 Who created this content?
📌 Is the source reliable?
📰 Is it fact, opinion… or manipulation?
🤔 Have I checked before sharing?

Coming back from holiday is a good time to refresh more than our schedules, it is also a chance to refresh our digital habits.

Through project we are working to strengthen digital education, media literacy and critical thinking, helping adults navigate the online world with greater confidence and identify fake news, disinformation and online manipulation.

🏖️ Holiday mode: OFF
🧠 Critical thinking: ON
🔎 Fact-checking: ALWAYS ON

Learn more about our project and activities on our website: https://smade-erasmus.eu/

06/08/2026

🤖 The EU AI Act is no longer just legislation, it is becoming everyday practice.

As of 2 August 2026, key transparency obligations under the EU AI Act are now in force. People must be informed when they interact with AI, while AI-generated and manipulated content, including deepfakes, must be clearly identified. These measures are designed to strengthen trust, reduce misinformation and protect citizens in the digital environment.

These developments reinforce exactly why SMADE – SMART DEMOCRACY matters.

Through SMADE, we empower adults to:
🔹 Recognise AI-generated content and disinformation
🔹 Strengthen critical thinking and media literacy
🔹 Make informed decisions in an AI-driven digital world
🔹 Participate confidently and responsibly in democratic life

Legislation alone cannot build digital resilience. Citizens also need the knowledge, skills and confidence to understand how AI works, question what they see online and use digital technologies responsibly.

🌍💙At SMADE, we are helping make that happen, one learner, one community and one informed decision at a time.

📖 Learn more about the new AI transparency rules:
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-starts-enforcing-ai-act-rules-and-new-transparency-requirements-2-august

From 2 August 2026, the European Commission’s AI Office, together with national authorities, will begin enforcing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act.

24/06/2026

The second issue of the newsletter for the Erasmus+ project SMART DEMOCRACY – Digital Education and Critical Thinking for an Inclusive Society (SMADE) is now available, under the theme “From planning to action.”

24/06/2026

📢 The 2nd Newsletter of the SMADE Project is here!

🇪🇺💡We are excited to share the latest updates from SMART DEMOCRACY: Digital Education and Critical Thinking for an Inclusive Society (SMADE)!

In this edition, you will discover:
✅ The progress of the project and recent partner activities
✅ Key achievements and milestones reached so far
✅ Insights into our work on digital education, critical thinking, and democratic participation
✅ Upcoming activities and opportunities to get involved

Through SMADE, we continue our mission to empower adults with the skills needed to navigate the digital world critically and actively participate in an inclusive and democratic society.

📲 Read our 2nd Newsletter on our website and stay updated on our journey!
https://smade-erasmus.eu/newsletter-2-smade/

The second issue of the newsletter for the Erasmus+ project SMART DEMOCRACY – Digital Education and Critical Thinking for an Inclusive Society (SMADE) is now available, under the theme “From planning to action.”

15/06/2026

🇧🇬✨ SMADE Partners Meet in Sofia, Bulgaria!

🤝On 9–10 June 2026, the partners of the SMADE – SMART Democracy: Digital Education and Critical Thinking for an Inclusive Society Erasmus+ project gathered in Sofia, Bulgaria, for the 2nd Transnational Project Meeting, kindly hosted by Fair Chance Association Bulgaria.

Over two inspiring and productive days, we reviewed the progress of the project, exchanged ideas and expertise and planned the next steps in the development of innovative educational resources aimed at empowering future Digital Navigators across Europe.

💡 The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen our collaboration, share experiences from our national contexts and reaffirm our common commitment to promoting digital literacy, critical thinking and inclusive adult education.

📚 Following the productive discussions in Sofia, partners are now working intensively on the development of the SMADE Course Content, which will equip future Digital Navigators with the knowledge and tools needed to support adults in navigating the digital world critically and confidently.

🇷🇴 We are also preparing for the upcoming Learning, Teaching and Training Activity (LTTA), which will take place in Buzău, Romania, in October 2026. During this international training event, participants from all partner countries will have the opportunity to test and further enrich the educational resources developed within the project.

🤝 We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our Bulgarian hosts for their warm hospitality and to all partners for their active participation, enthusiasm, and dedication to the SMADE vision.

🇪🇺 Together, we are building the foundations for a more informed, digitally resilient, and democratic society.

📲 Learn more about the project and follow our journey:
https://smade-erasmus.eu/

SMADE Proud Partners:
🔹 Asociatia Pro Democratia Buzau (Romania)
🔹 Innoviera (Greece)
🔹 Fair Chance Association Bulgaria (Bulgaria)
🔹 Innetica (Spain)
🔹 Fundacja dla Migrantów "DOBRY START" im. A G Farah (Poland)

13/06/2026

09/06/2026

29/05/2026

💼 "Easy work, great pay, no experience needed. Apply now!" 📲

Fatima almost fell for it. Maybe someone you know already has.
Fatima, 47, moved to Spain three years ago. She speaks basic Spanish, works part-time cleaning offices and dreams of finding something more stable. Her daughter showed her how to use Facebook, and she'd been browsing job groups for weeks.

Then she saw it: a post shared hundreds of times:
"🇪🇺 EU-funded programme hiring adults for remote data entry. €1,800/month. No experience needed. Register now: limited places! Send your full name, address, ID number and a €25 registration fee to secure your spot."

😳The post had a fake EU logo, five-star reviews in the comments, and a countdown timer. It looked legitimate. She sent her ID scan and paid the fee. There was no job. There was no programme. Her identity was stolen.

Fake job offers targeting migrants, low-income adults, and people with limited digital skills are among the most common and damaging forms of online fraud in Europe today. They don't just steal money ➡ they steal dignity and trust.

The project trains vulnerable adults across Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Greece and Spain to spot exactly these kinds of traps ➡ pressure tactics, fake urgency, requests for personal data and too-good-to-be-true promises.
⚠️ Red flags for fake job offers:
🔴 Asks for a fee to "register" or "secure your spot"
🔴 Requests your ID, passport or bank details upfront
🔴 Uses countdown timers or "limited places" pressure
🔴 No verifiable company name, address or contact
🤔If in doubt, don't click. Don't pay. Don't share.
👉 Tag someone who needs to see this.

📲Visit our website for more information: https://smade-erasmus.eu/

⚠️ Disclaimer: This is a fictional scenario created for educational purposes as part of the SMADE Erasmus+ project. All characters, names and situations are entirely invented. No real people, migrants, or individuals were used or referenced. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

SMADE is a European project that supports vulnerable adults in developing digital and media literacy skills, helping them understand online information, recognise disinformation, and participate safely and critically in today’s digital society.