Digital citizenship education is the response to the fundamental challenges - such as disinformation, digital literacy, cyberbullying, digital etiquette, online hate, speech, tolerance, personal-data usage, and digital security - we face in today's digital world. This situation underscores the urgent need to intensify efforts and investments in digital citizenship education to effectively address these evolving threats.
As part of the Council of Europe's European Year of digital citizenship education 2025, a creative poster competition was launched to promote awareness and action around the critical challenges of digital life. Creative minds from across Europe got stuck in, explored these themes, and produced posters that reflect the values and goals of digital citizenship education. The results have been announced.
The winning entries in the poster category are:
1st Prize: Zlatan Dryanov (Bulgaria)
2nd Prize: Ninareh Hovsepyan (Armenia)
3rd Prize: Piotr Pietrzak (Poland)
"Through creative expression, concepts that sometimes can be regarded as merely theoretical, they become alive, practical and can convey clear messages that invite the public to reflect on what it means to be a digital citizen," underlined Mr Villano Qiriazi, Head of the Education Department of the Council of Europe. "We were delighted to see how creative minds across Europe portrayed issues related to digital citizenship education and brought forth a debate about its value and importance", he further emphasised.
The jury highlighted how the rapid rise of disruptive technologies like ChatGPT has intensified the need for robust digital education. The winning entries effectively captured the urgency of addressing online threats and fostering inclusive, democratic digital spaces.
Digital citizenship education fits in neatly with the Council of Europe's current move towards a New Democratic Pact for Europe, which is the collective response to the challenges to democracy, including promoting media literacy and democratic engagement, and harnessing digital technologies to enhance inclusion, diversity and active participation in our societies.
A selection of the posters will be on display in margins of the second Digital Citizenship Education Forum, which will take place in Strasbourg in May 2026. This exhibition aims to engage educators, policy makers, and the public in shaping a safer and more respectful digital future.
European Year of digital citizenship education 2025
The Council of Europe and education
