An initiative promoted by the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth, within the context of the volunteering programme Do you surf the internet safely?, within the scope of the Portuguese Safer Internet Centre and the European Cybersecurity Month #CyberSecMonth, which takes place throughout October.

.This awareness program aims to promote responsible and safe use of the internet and digital citizenship through awareness-raising sessions and information actions aimed at children, young people, parents/educators and citizens in general. These activities are led by young volunteers.

This national meeting brought together 20 volunteers from all over the country: young volunteers actively working in the program, former volunteers, and those who are just beginning.

The main objectives were:

• To enhance the exchange of experiences;
• To develop digital skills, addressing new digital tools and challenges and how to promote the responsible use of these tools;
• To promote networking between IPDJ volunteers and youth workers.

We want to highlight some of the programme’s content, such as:

• Young people and ICT - youth trends in the use of different electronic resources and digital platforms;
• New approaches on how to facilitate the programme awareness sessions.

The training was provided by IPDJ and the youth association RATO - Associação para a Divulgação Cultural e Científica (Association for Cultural and Scientific Dissemination).

The young participants gave a very positive assessment of the different moments of the training, suggesting that future initiatives last longer and have more time for sharing and group work.

Some testimonies of young volunteers during the event include Maria Pereira and Ana Rita Vieira, Margarida Queirós, João Brás and Carolina Barradas

Find out more about the work of the Portuguese Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services – or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.