Snews, fake news is a cultural project that aims to live the truth together.
Use experiments, supported by videos and illustrations to learn about "scientific protocols" and their guarantee of truthfulness; practical exercises where children can verify firsthand what is the difference between what may seem true and what is true; round tables with journalists and experts to read the news together and recognize the clues to unmask fake news; and creativity to surprise us with imagination.
Local
Italy
Regione Lazio, Comune di Roma
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): blue cheese project aps Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Lara Last name of representative: De Angelis Gender: Female Nationality: Italy Function: president Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: via dell'arco di Parma 18 Town: Roma Postal code: 00181 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 339 211 5499 E-mail:associazionebluecheese@gmail.com Website:https://snews-fakenews.com
The Snews project (which has already run 5 editions from 2018 to 2022) connect communication experts, scientists, creatives, architects with school-age girls and boys to examine together one of the most debated and burning issues of current affairs: the false news circulating on the web and social networks. Through a laboratory experimentation path, which has the merit of actively involving students, it aims to show the difference between true and false and thus contribute to the cultural progress of young citizens by providing them with orientation tools and critical skills.
In our so-called "information" society, the issue of disinformation touches on crucial aspects: from citizens' right to quality information, to the construction of collective knowledge, to the economic impact of consumer choices. Defending yourself from disinformation and being familiar with concepts such as fact checking, greenwashing or influencer marketing means being able to escape deceptive and discriminatory mechanisms on a social and cultural level.
During the days of Snews, with workshops, laboratory and playful-creative appointments, the following contents are addressed: learning to check the news; go beyond the recreational use of the web and social media; How to deal with the risks of the network?; how false news and good information can discourage or promote responsible behavior among consumers; Fake news has always existed; What is influencer marketing and how to recognize it; the use of images in mass media; Scientific protocols; when science and medicine spread news; correct scientific dissemination; identity and information. The relevance of the topics and the multidisciplinary way in which they are treated represent the strength of Snews. the aim is to develop critical awareness to guide our daily choices.
develop critical skills
know by experiencing
fun
art design and creativity
inclusive and sustainability
With its meetings, the SnewS project has activated a dialogue between the scientific community and a young audience (13-18 years old) starting from one of the most debated and burning topics of the moment: the false news circulating on the web and social networks.
For example in 2020 Plastic Waste; Main elements of the proposal: bioplastics; how many times can you recycle; phases and times of the recycling process; chemical steps of decomposition.
plastic recycling laboratory with machinery: 1 granulator 1 injector 1 extruder. Participants tested the times and methods of a recycling process; they brought a piece of plastic waste which was transformed into a design object during the workshop.
Biology/chemistry laboratory for experiments and demonstrations on "everyday chemistry"; processes of “material decomposition”.
2021 WEEE - Technological Waste; Main elements of the proposal: what were WEEE, disposal and pollution; how raw materials are extracted from electronic devices; what is an urban mine, how to regenerate a device, and finally the WEEE used in art.
A chemistry laboratory has been set up: experiments with chemistry in everyday life; extraction of elements from WEEE. Round table with a bio-architect, geo-engineer, journalist where the issue of the dissemination of partial information on sustainability issues and the need by the media and institutions for an educational approach to electronic devices was explored.
And again, Il Tg Snews was created which addressed the issue by showing Italian and international advertising campaigns.
A multidisciplinary approach to develop a critical awareness on sustainability issues
From 2018 to 2022, again with the economic contribution of the Culture Department of the Municipality of Rome, Snews provided a method of analysis for the development of critical awareness of false scientific information with a multidisciplinary approach.
Among the disciplines included, the arts, creativity, design.
For example, to experiment with the reuse of plastic materials, design objects have been created (bicycle racks, corkscrews and plates and glasses. And again, musical instruments have always been created with scrap materials. Another example, through food packaging wrappers, has been created some recycled paper. This was used by the Street Artist KOI to make stencils which the kids then cut out and coloured. All the stencils together created a food pyramid that represented the impact of foods on the environment in terms of sustainability.
The kids appreciated these activities which, together with the other workshops, allowed them to experiment together by overcoming the classic educational approach.
The Snews project was developed in collaboration with the youth center of the Rome VII Municipality. The children involved in the 11-18 age range are the children of the youth center and of the town hall schools. These are young people who turn to the center to overcome learning difficulties (often children of immigrants who do not speak languages well, or other forms of difficulty).
In this sense, the project represents an example of an educational intervention that is open and for everyone; not only the principles but also the operating method, with round tables, laboratories and practical workshop activities stimulate a type of peer approach where everyone is involved.
Young future citizens and social citizens are the main beneficiaries of the initiative. Snews in its years of activity has involved student centers, schools and primary and secondary schools. False news, scientific and otherwise, have always existed but with the advent of digital technology and in particular over the last ten years, their proliferation and diffusion has assumed such proportions as to be able to speak of a "phenomenon". The damages caused by this "phenomenon" are manifold, from the credibility of journalism, to the economic damages for companies, to the damages to health when they concern science. The Snews project is therefore an opportunity to show citizens how scientific research proceeds, what it means to apply a "protocol" and how to proceed with rigorous checks before being able to speak of a "discovery" and get to disseminate it. Activating contact with the testing of truthfulness means forming awareness of the need for verifications, which in the case of news disseminated above all on the web, means being able to convey the importance of a critical and more in-depth reading. From here Snews also provides for a meeting with professional journalists to learn, always in a laboratory form, to recognize the importance of sources and learn about the reasons that push, often including authoritative newspapers, the dissemination of fake news.
Push a digital control experience with the activation of a dialogue between the world of scientific culture and citizens both on the major themes of research and on the elements characterizing daily life with the aim of providing, to a vast audience, fundamental analysis tools for conscious progress .
(it will demonstrate how much rigor is necessary before arriving at a "discovery" to be disseminated and shared.
Snews, is a project that has therefore promoted personal health and well-being; practices that respect the environment and safeguard prosperity by illustrating sustainable practices and models of consumption. It has also made known business models that combine all of this by creating income.
Snews is a project that has educated and disseminated knowledge of a critical way of reading news, especially scientific news.
The project made use of a multi-actor strategy and involved: journalists, scientists from the CNR, researchers and biologists from the Santa Lucia institute, middle and high school students, the Town Hall and the widespread educational community, the Municipality of Rome, the Community European (Generation Europe Academy), European youth centres, Precious Plastic (open source network company dedicated to the creative disposal of plastic waste based in the Netherlands.)
Snews, is a multidisciplinary educational project. Knowledge covers different fields: science, biology, chemistry, architecture, art, design, creativity, journalism, pataphysics. The multi-actor and multi-language aspect mix together thanks to the activities that take place with the kids. It is the practical plan that crosses knowledge and enlivens it during laboratory activities and whorkshops where the actors expose their different points of view. For example, the chemists select the plastic materials suitable to be worked by the creatives who involve the designers in their creative process to give shape to the products that the boys create. The same occurs, for example, in the RAEE cycle where chemists, journalists and architects explain the cycle of recycling linked to rare earths. Snews is a creative process that transforms and increases the knowledge of each participant.
The innovative component in a cultural project that uses fake news as a training tool on the issue of sustainability is the use of an interdisciplinary approach that combines training on source verification and information criticism with awareness raising on environmental issues and promotion of sustainable behaviors. In this way, it help develop skills to navigate in a world where information on sustainability is often distorted or false and at the same time promote greater awareness and personal responsibility in relation to environmental challenges.
The replicability of snews is based on its methodologies and various aspects:
Source verification training: provides students with the tools to recognize and verify the reliability of sources of information on environmental issues.
Interdisciplinary laboratories: organizes laboratories that combine training on verifying sources with awareness on environmental issues, promoting creativity and collaboration to find sustainable solutions.
the Partnerships: Established with environmental organizations, academic institutions, and the media to broaden impact.
Using digital platforms: to create educational content on source verification and sustainability and share the project with a wider audience.
Measurement and Evaluation: Monitor and evaluate project results to verify the effectiveness of the methodologies used and make any changes to ensure their replicability in the future. This methodology that intertwines different areas of training can be used in other contexts (not just the 13-18 age group) and not just in reference to sustainability. Starting from fakes to get to experience what is true can relate to cultural preconceptions or bias
in the first place of our methodology there is the definition of the objectives; Snews' main objective is to develop a critical relationship between young people aged 13-18 with respect to the flow of information, especially in relation to social networks. Having identified the objective, we defined a multi-actor and multidisciplinary action that used the laboratory tool as a vector. We chose this method because learning by doing is the form of learning that best matches the age group. it is a form of knowledge elaboration that facilitates and stimulates the relationship between the participants. Invite to overcome barriers and stimulate relationships.
The validity of the applied method was verified through direct interviews with a sample of about 1000 students aged 13-18, monitored during 5 years of activity of the Snews project (2018/2022), carried out with the support of the Municipality of Rome at the centre, of the widespread educational community of the VII Municipality, Scholé.
This sample was collected through a qualitative method, which therefore provided for a communication that was not only methodologically correct, but also humanly significant. As mentioned, these are interviews, about 200 each year, useful for bringing out the reflections of the interested parties on their life situations and training needs.
The needs of young people aged 13-18 that emerged from the surveys are linked to the relational sphere and the sphere of interpersonal relationships; And yet training needs related to the desire to live first-hand experiences, experiences that concern them and that they can judge as attractive as not predisposed for them but with them. Therefore, there is a need for participation and involvement, capable of stimulating protagonism and sociability.
During all the planning stages we measured the exact number of participants (they are young people who attend the center or other times school classes) to engage and we monitored their presence.
through a work that starts from the local youth centers Snews supports a form of learning that goes beyond the classic disciplinary distinctions. It also involves the students most in need of support. Youth centers accompany the study and understanding of texts to many young people who need this help for various reasons.
Snews is therefore a project that offers more stimulating and engaging learning than normal activities. For example, creative workshops with pataphysical experiments or other forms of creativity related to street art capture general attention.
Involvement is essential to ensure that the project ends up leading the kids to deal with simple to more complex topics such as fact-checking for example. the recycling of WEEE, the sustainability linked to the food cycle and more. Starting from a local network dedicated to tutoring in study to arrive at tackling global issues together with journalists and scientists, also connecting to other European youth centres. All this to verify that the behavior of the individual together with the policies can make the difference for a better future on planet earth
Snews is a project that from 2018 to 2022 helped train around 1,000 young people. An average of 200 young people have experimented and enjoyed the activities each year. The process activated by Snews had the merit of intriguing and involving. In these 5 years Snews has been financed by the Municipality of Rome Department of Culture through public tenders. Today, building on the success of past Snews editions, it is already judged among the meritorious and waiting to know its place in the standings for possible funding directly from the Italian Ministry of Education. Snews, during the past years has therefore grown and its training method which starts from Fake news to involve critically is considered exemplary.
