During the second day of the European Summit of Regions and cities, local, regional and European leaders discussed how to strengthen democracy through education and culture and challenges faced by democracy in the digital age.
In a video message, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth said that engagement of citizens is a core element of active democracy. She added "When we invest in democracy, we are investing in our cities and regions making sure everyone can participate in decision making. This is key for young people. 2022 is the European year of youth. It is about making sure youths can participate in our society and democracy. We want to connect young people to connect with policy makers."
Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdansk spoke on the importance of fact checking to fight disinformation. "Voices of anti-vaxxers have now become anti-Ukraine voices. Fact checking of news is also important during the war in Ukraine." With respect to democracy in the digital age, the CoR Rapporteur on the European democracy action plan said that she deeply believes in education, not only that provided in schools, but also that targeting adults and groups that can be excluded from digital environments. Dulkiewicz added that it is not easy to make young people more active in local politics but participatory democracy tools such as in involvement in budgets could help.
Lidia Pereira, MEP and President of the Youth of the European People's Party said that youths are engaging in politics in a different way and some are able to reach several other people online. She stressed that this has drawbacks too and spoke on the need of an education system that prepares youth to have critical skills. She also stressed that digital platforms must protect users from deceiving information.