Save the Children, the European Association for Digital Transition (AETD) and FAD Juventud took part in the 1st International Digital Rights Forum, held in Barcelona on 13–14 May. The event brought together more than one hundred experts to discuss the main challenges that digital transformation poses to citizens’ rights, with particular attention to areas such as artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity and the protection of children and adolescents.
The second day placed a particular focus on children and adolescents. Agustina Dellasanta, Social Innovation Project Manager at Save the Children’s Impact – Social Change Lab, took part in the panel “From Users to Changemakers: Youth Redefining Digital Spaces”. The session focused on the role of younger generations not only as users of technology, but also as active participants in building safer, more responsible digital spaces that respect their rights.
This perspective is closely aligned with one of the principles at the heart of DigComp Child: adolescents’ voices should be part of the educational solutions that affect their digital lives. The project aims to ensure that digital competence education goes far beyond simply using devices, incorporating skills such as critical thinking, privacy protection, positive digital coexistence, cybersecurity and informed decision-making.
Ana Caballero, Vice-President of AETD, moderated the panel “From digital rights to the classroom: how to turn protection and digital citizenship into real competences for adolescents”. The session featured Catalina Perazzo from Save the Children, María Zabala from FAD Juventud and Eva Herrero from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The discussion explored how digital protection, digital citizenship and children’s and adolescents’ right to participate can be translated into concrete competences, teacher training and public policies that can be put into practice and scaled up.
This conversation is closely connected to the work of DigComp Child, which seeks precisely to translate broader frameworks on digital rights and competences into a practical curriculum for adolescents aged 12 to 16, designed to be implemented in real educational settings.
The participation of Save the Children, AETD and FAD Juventud in the Forum provided an opportunity to bring this perspective to an international space for reflection on digital rights and to strengthen the link between protection, participation and digital education.