The proposal “Maldita Educa: tools against disinformation for vulnerable groups” has been selected alongside 220 science communication and outreach projects. In this call, 124 organizations of all kinds — from universities to companies, and from foundations to public research centers — submitted proposals that will be implemented to improve scientific and technical education at all levels of society. The project will run from July 2021 to June 2022. It received a score of 79 out of 100 in the evaluation and was awarded 47.9% of its funding through this grant, with the remaining 52.1% provided by Maldita.es.
The Maldita Educa project aims to develop a “train-the-trainers” program to combat disinformation across all areas, especially those related to science and health, and particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on groups that are especially vulnerable to this problem.
The Maldita Educa team will select and train 20 participants — including young people, educators, older adults, migrants, and healthcare professionals — and will work with them to develop materials and methodologies adapted to their environments. Once the program is completed, participants will be qualified to deliver this training to other educators and professionals, enabling them to replicate the workshops within their own communities. The project also includes making all materials publicly available.
Through this methodology, the aim is to reach vulnerable audiences in a scalable way. Maldita Educa will create a network of 20 trainers who will take part throughout the 12 months of the project in developing and testing methodologies and teaching guides. They will then be required to train at least five additional trainers in their respective organizations, ensuring that at least 100 trainers are prepared to deliver the course in different settings.
In addition, the Maldita Educa website will host a public repository of teaching resources, including training pathways, articles, games and presentations. All materials and methodologies used during the project will be published there so that other educators can use them free of charge.
The FECYT grant helps strengthen Maldita Educa’s main objective: to promote media literacy among citizens of all ages and backgrounds, creating an informed community capable of defending itself against disinformation, protecting its privacy, and making informed decisions regardless of their beliefs.