HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-10: Digital and Media Literacy as Drivers for Democratic and Civic Resilience

This Horizon Europe topic, officially titled “Digital and media literacy as drivers for democratic and civic resilience,” funds research into how media and digital literacy can strengthen democratic and civic resilience: how people seek, evaluate, and engage with information; how algorithms amplify emotive content and drive polarisation; and whether the media literacy initiatives that already exist are actually working.

Call at a Glance

Expected Outcomes

Per the work programme, projects should contribute to all of the following:

• EU institutions and national decision-makers gain a better understanding of how to foster democratic resilience through media and digital literacy, equipping societies to adapt in the face of evolving technological, political, and societal challenges.
• Citizens are empowered to navigate the digital landscape with discernment and critical thinking, actively engaging with media and other sources of information, ensuring informed democratic participation.

Scope: What Proposals Should Address

The topic sits against a specific EU policy backdrop, cited directly in the call text: the European Democracy Action Plan, the Digital Services Act and its Code of Conduct on Disinformation, the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), the Preparedness Union Strategy, and the Safer Together report on hybrid threats and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

Within that context, proposals are expected to:

• Study user behaviour patterns in the digital age: how individuals seek, evaluate, and engage with information both online and offline, including an analysis of the emotional dynamics behind how disinformation and polarisation spread on digital platforms. This is flagged as especially relevant in crisis contexts, where FIMI can be leveraged to increase panic and confusion.
• Investigate how algorithms amplify emotive content, fostering polarisation and undermining trust in democratic institutions and crisis response, and develop literacy strategies to counter emotionally manipulative narratives such as populist and post-truth discourses.
• Examine what drives digital literacy, information-seeking habits, and online engagement, with a focus on improving citizen participation through digital means, including civic tech, and informed decision-making.
• Critically assess existing media and digital literacy initiatives to determine whether current efforts genuinely enhance citizens’ resilience, or whether new approaches are needed against evolving manipulation tactics.
• Apply computational tools, with Social Network Analysis and Natural Language Processing named explicitly in the call, to map and mitigate the spread of disinformation across platforms, including identifying Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour and analysing both textual and visual content.

A multi-actor approach is expected, involving public authorities, schools, universities, youth initiatives, civil society organisations, social partners, businesses, and local communities. The call gives particular attention to groups in vulnerable situations: children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, ethnic or religious minorities, LGBTIQ people, and those affected by poverty or social exclusion.

Eligibility and Consortium Requirements

Standard Horizon Europe eligibility applies (General Annex B): consortia must include at least one independent legal entity established in an EU Member State, plus at least two further independent entities from different Member States or Associated Countries.

One topic-specific exception: the Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a consortium member with zero funding, or as an associated partner, though it will not take part in preparing or submitting the proposal. Selected projects are encouraged to collaborate with the JRC on its work on innovation for democracy and public governance.

Proposals are also encouraged to identify other EU-funded projects on media and digital literacy and explore clustering and cooperation with them.

Where to Apply

Proposals are submitted through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Always check the official topic page and work programme for the authoritative conditions before submitting.

Related Calls in This Destination

Other 2026 topics under Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance, all closing 23 September 2026:

• HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-08 — Electoral integrity in the digital context
• HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-05 — Research and Innovation Network for a Union of Equality
• HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-03 — Government in transition
• See all HORIZON-CL2-2026-01 calls

Building a Proposal for This Topic?

We partner in Horizon Europe consortia, contributing the software, data, and adoption layer that research-heavy consortia often need: building tools that keep running after the grant ends, product research that drives uptake, and the architecture that connects work packages across partners. For this topic specifically, our work on disinformation and inoculation, our open-source fact-checking toolkit, and AI tools for society line up with the computational and literacy strands above.

Read more about how we work in Horizon consortia, or browse our wider projects and research.