Cite: Zimmermann, N.; Plasencia-Kanzler, M.; Rapetti, E.(2026). More than Go with the Flow. From platform users to active citizens. Competendo Facilitator Handbook, Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe, Brussels. 107 pages, DARE network
https://competendo.net/en/More_than_Go_with_the_Flow
Authors: N. Zimmermann, M. Plasencia-Kanzler, E. Rapetti (ed.)
Design: S. Georgiev
Download: PDF
Languages:
EN: More than Go with the Flow
DE: Mehr als mit dem Strom schwimmen
BG: Не просто да се нося се по течението
From platform users to active citizens. Digital Citizenship Education
A different focus on digital education and youth work: It is obvious that education that focuses on “the political” cannot be satisfied with a discourse on digitalisation that largely ignores the social, political, economic and cultural impacts of digital policy and digital development. In recent years, awareness has risen on the political character of developments such as platformisation, AI, structural decisions in the information ecosystem and competitive decisions in the digital market.
Education must take decisive action here. It must take learners seriously as citizens and address them as such, rather than merely as consumers or so-called “users”. This is what we refer to in the title “More than going with the flow”. If one always goes with the flow, at some point one will no longer know what it means to swim against the tide. Maybe one would also like to learn more about water and the ecosystem or perhaps experiment with forms of coexistence, aquariums and swimming variations that are not traditionally envisaged.
Youth perspectives
One consideration that guided the editors’ actions was that when a young generation grows up with digitalisation, they generate, analyse, share and store digital data from early childhood onwards. This data cloud is no longer just a fragmentary reflection of the self, but part of it. How can we give them more control and agency in relation to their digital selves? While this question is not new for other generations, it is less fundamental for “us’” whose lives are not yet completely digitalised. In this sense, greater data protection and privacy contribute to “intergenerational empathy”.
Identity, governance, environment
In this handbook, we address digitalisation under three main themes that we consider particularly important for informed, democracy-focused youth education on digital issues: Such education on the topic of ‘identity’ finds numerous points of connection in the digital world.
After all, datafication, tracking and the categorisation of individuals are widespread. In this context, we must remember that adolescence is characterised precisely by young people seeking and experimenting with identity or identities, but also finding the process of identity formation challenging in many respects.
Second, questions of rules and of societal control, the content of the next larger chapter, are by no means purely technical. What characterises democracy in particular is that these rules and decisions cannot be made by a small group alone and that, in principle, everyone – from politicians to neighbourhood initiatives – has the right to propose new rules. Governance is political and without proper education on questions of rulemaking and enforcement, including in relation to digitalisation, digital empowerment in democracy is unimaginable.
For the digital sphere as well, we must ask how and by whom power should be constrained, supervised and regulated. But we also refer to the rules for how digital infrastructure should be used. Who should have a say in this? Who should be allowed to see and use the data? What rules should prevail in the many digital spaces of the future? What kind of digitalisation do we actually want to pursue? It must also be clarified who pays for the cables and services and who should own them, along with the data used and generated within them.
If data is to be the new oil of the economy, then democratic governance is the key factor in ensuring that the system contributes as safely and smoothly as possible to greater democracy and social, economic and environmental progress. That is what sets us apart from Russia or China.
Third, we need as society to critically examine the impact of digitalisation on the environment. The “ecological backpack” concept reveals an important truth: Digital devices are physical products, not virtual ones, carrying ecological and social burdens that far outweigh their physical mass. This chapter explores three interconnected dimensions of digital technology and sustainability. It examines the material foundations of our digital world. From resource extraction and raw material processing to waste generation. Every smartphone, computer and data centre depends on complex global supply chains with substantial environmental impacts.
Furthermore, it addresses the dual role of digitalisation in the climate crisis. While energy-intensive technologies drive emissions, they simultaneously enable innovative, data-driven approaches to climate protection.
Finally, it considers how digital lifestyles, streaming, gaming, online consumption, shape everyday behaviours with environmental consequences. By understanding these connections, young people can critically reflect on their digital habits and discover more sustainable ways of engaging with technology. Each section combines background facts with practical examples from youth work and ends with stimulating open questions (“blank spaces”), ideal for use in projects, workshops or everyday life.
A handbook for youth workers, facilitators, educators…
This handbook is aimed at professionals as non-formal educators or youth workers, but is also intended to offer added value for teachers. It therefore has both theoretical and practical aims. That is why we have repeatedly tried to inspire readers with concrete suggestions for implementation.
From the Table of Content:
- The socio-political in digitalisation
- Identity – Let’s rethink identity in a connected world
Known & hidden selves: how we present ourselves online
The quantified self: how we track our lives
Predicted & unknown selves: how algorithms shape identity
The blind spot: how others shape our identity
Of prosumers, produsers & influencers - Enforce more democracy. Aspects of democratic governance of ‘the digital’
“That’s too technical!”
Steps toward adequate governance
The media & information ecosystem out of balance - Environment – Critically examining the impact of digitalisation
Material aspects of digitalisation
Digitalisation and climate change
Building competences for sustainable digitalisation
Digital lifestyle - Active citizenship – Engagement for democratic digital transformation
Created by
Created in the frame of the project DIYW-ROAD: Digital Youth Work – Rights-sensitive, Open, Accessible, Democratic. Coordinated by Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten e. V. AdB (DE) with Sozialprofil – Verein zur Förderung individueller, institutioneller und gesellschaftlicher Entwicklung (AT), DARE –
Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe vzw. (BE), Partners Bulgaria Foundation (BG), Fundación CIVES (ES), Dínamo – Associação de Dinamização Sócio-cultural (PT).
Co-funded by the European Union