The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) is the Greek partner in the “GenderED Coalition – A cross-country coalition against gender disinformation for equitable societies” European Project, aiming at creating a safer and more equitable digital space by addressing gender disinformation and promoting positive social change.

Specifically, GenderED Coalition focuses on media literacy and gender equality to shed light on the phenomenon of gender-based disinformation and violence on social media. The project combats the misogyny underlying this online phenomenon through two interconnected actions: education and awareness-raising. It aims to sensitize and empower all social media users—girls and women who feel unsafe or face attacks, boys and men, and all individuals—enabling them to counter gender disinformation effectively.

Indeed, GenderED Coalition is building a community of practice that fosters collaboration among media literacy educators (e.g. representatives of civil society organizations, teachers, librarians), gender experts and activists, human rights defenders, social media influencers, and artists. All together aim to carry out an online campaign in order to reverse narratives about girls and women by debunking false and misleading representations rooted in stereotypes, rumors, and deep socio-cultural misogyny.

The main accomplishments of the initial phase of the GenderED Coalition’s implementation, include:

• The mapping of the Gender Disinformation Phenomenon, where the DAISSy-HOU conducted an in-depth analysis of this phenomenon across EU countries. The findings highlight the impact of gender disinformation on social equality, political participation, and personal safety.
• The development of a Competence Profile for Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Educators, which includes a model skills profile that defines the knowledge, abilities, and skills required to integrate a gender perspective into media literacy education.
• The organization of a Citizen Hackathon, that brought together members of the feminist online community to collaborate on developing tools and narratives to combat gender stereotypes and disinformation.

These achievements lay the groundwork for the second phase of implementation, which includes:

• The conduction of the cross-border awareness-raising campaigns designed by the Hackathon teams.
• The development and launching a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on gender disinformation.

GenderED Coalition is a two-year project, co-funded by the Creative Europe (CREA) European program. It is implemented by a consortium of four (4) partners representing adequate EU member states (Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, and France). The DAISSy Research Group of the HOU actively participates in all project deliverables, being responsible for developing both the Competence Profile and the MOOC.

For more information on the GenderED Coalition project, as well as other activities of DAISSy-HOU:

• Websites: https://daissy.eu/, https://www.genderedcoalition.net/
• Facebook: @DAISSyResearchGroup, @GenderedCoalitionProject
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/, @GenderedCoalition
• X (Twitter): @daissy_research
• Instagram: @daissy_researchgroup, @GenderedCoalitionInsta
• Email: info@daissy.eap.gr