The MLA4MedLit conference is one of Media & Learning Association’s annual conferences dedicated to exploring emerging priorities in digital and media literacy. In previous editions, the conference has focused on teacher education, best practices, and the importance of shared standards in the field. In 2025, it took a broader perspective, examining how digital and media literacy can strengthen democracy, foster civic participation, and empower people of all ages to navigate today’s increasingly complex information landscape.
This year, the conference turns a critical eye on the field itself. As media literacy becomes an ever more central pillar of digital citizenship and societal resilience, it invites participants to step back and question some of the field’s own assumptions about who is being reached, who is being left out, and who gets to decide what “literacy for everyone” really means.
Bringing together researchers, educators, practitioners, policy-makers, and civil society actors, this year’s edition opens up a space for critical reflection rather than easy answers: asking not just what media literacy looks like today, but for whom, and at what cost when it falls short.
AGENDA [DRAFT]
Welcome words and framing the conference’s theme – Chloé Pété, Programme Manager Digital and Media Literacy, Media & Learning Association.
13:40 – 14:30 | Open Discussion: Who decides what it means to be Media Literate?
Across research, education, and policy, people are routinely described as media literate or not, vulnerable or resilient. Yet the field lacks a shared understanding of what media literacy actually looks like or how to measure it consistently, if at all possible.
In this opening discussion, a researcher and a practitioner examine the assumptions behind these labels and ask who ultimately sets the norms. Whose perspectives, educational systems, and cultural contexts define what counts as being “literate” online? And what are the consequences when these standards are applied across diverse communities?
[Opening with a live audience poll: “Based on your organisation’s experience, who does ‘digital literacy for everyone’ actually reach?”, the session invites participants to reflect on the power, responsibility, and blind spots that shape media literacy work today.]
Speakers:
14:30 – 15:30 | Case Studies: Whose Literacy, For Whom?
Media literacy is often designed with a default audience in mind, and everyone else is expected to adapt. This session turns to three communities routinely left out of that design:
Speakers:
15:30 – 15:30 | Break
15:40 – 16:40 | Case Studies: Whose Rights? The Participation Gap
This session takes a critical look at accountability, showcasing best practices while examining who gets consulted on frameworks, who doesn’t, and what’s lost. Opens with a short reflection on participatory approaches in digital rights: what does genuine participation actually require and cost, and how rare is it in practice? Who gets consulted on frameworks, who doesn’t, and what genuine participation actually requires versus token consultation.
Speakers:
16:40 – 17:00 | Closing Open Reflection: How do we do better together?
The conference closes by turning that question forward: what would it actually take to do this better?
