IMMUNISE AGAINST DIS-/MISINFORMATION WORKSHOP SERIES

Facts or Myths – dealing with disinformation (“Feiten of fabels – omgaan met desinformatie”)

In this series of events, we collaborated with Avansa, a non-profit organisation active in Flanders, Belgium, reaching out to audience over the age of 55, living in the Kempen region. During in total of 6 events, we vaccinated our audience against disinformation using the inoculation methodology. The audience was faced with examples from real life, including topics related to climate change, AI and foreign information manipulation and interference.

The aim of the event series was to inform citizens who would not be reached through other communication channels such as social media, newsletters, or events organised in the Brussels region. By collaborating with Avansa, we were able to reach out to a wider target group, including elderly people, people living in more distant locations from the capital area, and those with little or no knowledge on the topic in advance. The lectures took place in Dutch, and they were organised at public libraries and at civil society organisations in Herentals, Baarle, Lille, Vorselaar, Geel and Meerhout in October and November 2025.

Each workshop provided context for disinformation: where, when, and in what forms it occurs; how to recognize it; what the people who spread disinformation want to achieve; why it spreads (algorithms and financial structures that amplify click-bait content); what kind of impact it has on us; how we can limit its impact and protect ourselves (or “vaccinate” ourselves) against manipulation.

The lecture also included inoculation by introducing real-life examples on Russian information manipulation and interference, climate disinformation, and AI-enabled disinformation. These practical cases served to enhance the practical skills of the participants to detect disinformation and increase their resilience against it. Throughout the workshop, the participants engaged in discussion and shared of their personal experiences. These I2I tools were shortly presented, with instruction on where to find them to start practicing factchecking independently.

In additon, we organised a 7th event for teachers with the aim of gaining a multiplier effect by empowering teachers to enhance their students’ skills on critical thinking, media literacy, and digital literacy. The presentation took place at an event organised by Mediawijs on the 16^th of October 2025 in Brussels, and brought together primary and secondary school students from across Flanders. During and after the presentation, the teachers had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss their approach, as well as their concern regarding teaching media and digital literacy and critical thinking at schools. On the other hand, the event served to inform us of the needs of the teachers when to bringing these topics to the classroom; the event functioned as a preparatory phase for the following events, in which we would go deeper into serving the needs of teachers.