UAB leads the EMEDUS project that analyses the state of Media Literacy in all EU countries

The Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), through the Department of Communication and Education and a consortium of six other European institutions, carry out the project: European Media Literacy Education Study (EMEDUS), which started in January 2012.

Among other tasks, the UAB is responsible for the scientific coordination of the study to be carried out over a period of two years with funding from the Lifelong Learning Programme of the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission.

The study's objectives are to provide policy recommendations at both national and European level and to support educational policies to foster media education, Lifelong Learning and development in the fields of formal education, informal education and disadvantaged groups, all of these within the 27 Member States of the EU.

For this, the study will focus on the key factors to develop successful policies in Media Literacy: good practices, useful changes as well as the positive economic impact of Media Literacy.

Currently the UAB team of researchers is working on the first stage of the project: the analysis of existing literature on the subject within the 27 EU countries both in formal and informal education as well as a special emphasis on minority groups at risk of exclusion. In its final stage the project intends to operate an observatory that will seek to update all information related to the topic and will provide information on the status and progress of Media Literacy within each EU member state.

The consortium developing the project includes the following members: the European Association for Viewer's Interests of Belgium (EAVI); the University of Minho (UoM) Portugal; the Hungarian Institute for Educational Research and Development (OFI/HIERD) Hungary; the Istituto di Studi Politici Economici e Sociali (EURISPES) Italy, as well as the School of Communication and Media (SCM) Slovakia and the Pedagogical University of Krakow (PUK) Poland.