From April 21 to 23, YMCA Europe’s Advocacy Officer Dragos Tarta represented YMCA at the Seminar on Supporting Young People’s Critical Thinking in a Digital Age, organised by the European Union – Council of Europe Youth Partnership in Timisoara (Romania) and hosted by the Timis County Youth Foundation (FITT).
The seminar brought together youth work practitioners, educators, and policymakers to explore one of the defining challenges of our time: how to equip young people with the critical tools they need to navigate an increasingly complex digital world.
Across three days of sessions and peer exchange, participants examined how technology shapes democratic participation, civic space, and young people’s sense of agency.
Discussions spanned the opportunities and risks of digital life, from the ways online platforms can mobilise communities and amplify youth voices, to the subtler challenges of information overload, algorithmic design, and the growing influence of generative AI on how young people form opinions and make decisions.
These themes resonated deeply with our own work, which has long recognised that meaningful participation in democracy requires access to technology, as well as the confidence and competence to engage with it critically and intentionally.
Throughout the seminar, Dragos contributed insights from YMCA Europe’s expertise in digital skilling and youth participation, sharing practical approaches that help young people question, reflect, and act in a digital age.
YMCA Europe’s work across the continent positions the organisation at the intersection of non-formal learning and civic empowerment, building environments where young people develop not only digital literacy, but the human agency to think and decide for themselves.
The seminar reinforced the importance of this mission and offered valuable new perspectives and partnerships to carry it forward, strengthening YMCA’s ongoing commitment to empowering young people to engage critically, responsibly, and confidently with the digital world.
