The “innovative methodS for Media & Information Literacy Education involving schools and librarieS” (SMILES) project will address the topic of media literacy and combating fake news in Europe, with a strong focus on digital media use and COVID-19. Following the rise of fake news and disinformation, fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a strong urgency for the participating organisations to develop and test new methods for media and information literacy. Representing libraries, media literacy organisations and a research institute, the consortium is determined to contribute to a safer and more responsible use of digital technology, particularly amongst young people. The SMILES project aims to test innovative educational approaches in the form of fake news workshops at secondary schools held by school teachers and librarians, and monitor their effectiveness. The project method is to deploy a 'train the trainer' approach, in which school teachers and librarians are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and materials to deliver workshops to secondary school pupils (age 12-15). Concretely, 60 school teachers and librarians are trained in organising ‘fake news’ workshops to young people; and they will organise the workshops at secondary schools in Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands for 600 participating young people.In order to reach the overall objective to enhance the digital readiness of secondary schools and empower young people to critially use digital technology, the consortium will develop three Intellectual Outputs. A Baseline study will be conducted in the three countries to research and connect different educational approaches in Europe, enabling the development of a shared methodology on fake news workshops (intellectual output 1). Based on the results of intellectual output 1, the SMILES training programme to promote the safe and responsible use of digital media tools will be developed and deployed, including the production of a manual for trainers and a digital toolkit (intellectual output 2). Finally, the project partners will develop a report on the effectiveness of the workshops and tested methodology in the three countries (intellectual output 3). As part of the project, transnational meetings and dissemination activities will lead to a sharing of knowledge on the effectiveness of the fake news workshops between three European countries (Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands), as well as on a wider level through a dedicated dissemination plan. The ultimate goal of the project is to help create more awareness and trust of young people in the institutions that provide verified information - i.e. schools, libraries - and the essential role these institutes play in the information society.

The project NEWCOMER leverages the untapped potential of libraries in Europe to deliver on adult education and social inclusion. There is therefore a risk that as technology advances, existing inequalities will be exacerbated, and disadvantaged groups will be hit hardest. Libraries are well placed as local community institutions which offer a broad range of educational resources to serve these disadvantaged groups. By offering digital resources as well as a trusted physical space, they contribute to both digital and social inclusion. NEWCOMER will allow library staff who are working directly with adult learners in their communities to explore with their counterparts from other countries why the adult education provision varies so greatly, how best to support adult learners in the context of the library, and what best practice examples to apply to meet the needs of disadvantaged and marginalised groups.The main activity of the NEWCOMER project is a series of transnational project meetings. The project consortium constitutes eight partners from the library sector with a mixture of profiles and backgrounds but all demonstrating a rich experience in providing opportunities for education and inclusion in their communities. Each project partner will host a transnational project meeting in which they will present and exchange best practice in the field of adult education and social inclusion from their institution, with the support of associate partners who work with specific target groups of disadvantaged learners. Two participants from each partner will be chosen to participate in the project meetings based on their profile, experience, and ability to maintain a lasting network.Over the lifetime of the NEWCOMER project, the best practices exchanged at the project meetings will be collated in a manual for dissemination to a wider audience from the library sector and beyond. These insights will also serve as inspiration for the development of policy recommendations to inform policy change at the local, national and European level. Importantly, NEWCOMER will also track the professional development of library staff participating in the project meetings through a series of evaluations, in order to ensure that their capacity to serve local adult learners through libraries is strengthened as a result of the project methodology.The objectives of the NEWCOMER project are threefold:1. Provide an opportunity for cross-border exchange and networking between library staff working with adult learners;2. Develop the competences of library staff working with adult learners based on exchanges with project partners contributing their experience and expertise;3. Empower library staff to deliver more effective support to their adult learners, thereby promoting social inclusion and uptake of educational opportunities in libraries by adult learners within their communities.The vision of the NEWCOMER consortium is to take this methodology beyond the project scope and ultimately to create a global programme of exchange and learning for library staff, with the ultimate goal of better serving disadvantaged people through a network of connected local libraries. This shared vision will drive project partners to ensure quality implementation of the project, measure impact on the ground, and build a network that will be sustained beyond the project lifetime.