Implementation
MEDIAMIND was a dynamic Erasmus+ youth mobility project that brought together participants from across Europe to explore the powerful intersection between media, identity, and critical thinking. Hosted in the scenic village of Pissouri, Cyprus, the program empowered young people to question, analyze, and better understand the media that shapes their world. Through interactive workshops, creative activities, debates, cultural exchanges, and hands-on media creation, participants developed essential competencies in media literacy, digital awareness, and responsible content production. The project fostered intercultural dialogue, strengthened youth participation, and equipped participants with tools to be active, informed citizens in an increasingly digital world. Each day was thoughtfully designed to blend learning with collaboration, reflection, and fun—making MEDIAMIND not just a training but a transformative experience. In the following lines you will find description of our activities day by day, which was organized by the team of facilitators.
Day 1: Sunday, March 23, 2025.
Co - Written by Facilitators Team
The first day of the project! After introductions by trainers Bobbie, Erma, Evagelia and Nikolas, participants quickly went into name-games. The first game was called the name hangman. For this, participants were given tape and were asked to make underscores for the amount of letters in their names e.g _ _ _ _ _ _ for Bobbie. Being allowed to only give their letter once, as well as receive once from another person, participants mingled around and ultimately "collected" their own names.
Afterwards we had a portrait drawing game, where we passed around a paper with the shape of our face, and every time the music stopped, we filled in a different part of the body, such as one eye, an ear or the mouth. A lot of humorous portraits came out from this activity.
The last activity for the coffee break was the human bingo, where participants were given a bingo table, and asked to go around and fill in participants' names based on facts about others. Examples included "been to more than 15 countries", "having a sibling" or "playing an instrument". Curiously, we found out that there were a significant number of participants who are left-handed.
After coffee break we focused on 3 distinct aspects of the projects. These were:
- Rules and Responsibilities - rules of the program that will remain until the end of the project, as well as responsibilities for each national team, including reel making or writing this very implementation.
- Expectations, Fears, Contributions backpack - where we focused on what we brought with us, and how we can contribute directly to the project with our own knowledge
- Youthpass competencies - learning about all 8 key competencies of PDAs or YEs, so we can track our learning progress through the next days based on the workshops we do.
Armed with all the necessities, participants are now ready to dive deeply in their topic. The afternoon was spent in Pissouri, where we had a treasure hunt game, and a Cypriot traditional dinner at Vrakas.
Tasks in Pissouri can be found in this link: https://mediamind.webnode.page/tasks-in-pissouri/
Day 2: Monday, March 24, 2025.
Co-written by the German team
The second day started with energizers planned by the Polish team. As it is still the second day, yet another quick name game was played by the use of a blanket. On both sides, participants were placed, and upon dropping the blanket, participants were tasked with quickly saying the name of the other.
Back in the training room where we had to analyse and timeline our own media biography.
This workshop, contrary to what the name implied, was NOT about what we have posted on social media, but what we believe has subconsciously shaped us due to the media we consumed. Participants were asked to place, on a scale from negative to positive.
For example, one of the trainers, Bobbie, grew up on the now defunct Vine platform. Due to its six second nature, Bobbie believes it shaped his sense of humor, causing it to be quick and often witty.
The second activity was named Internet privacy. Worksheets focused on 4 sections, and the group was split into 4:
- Station A: Private pictures
- Station B: Shared content
- Station C: the "about" section
- Station D: Network dynamics.
Each information that is posted online and what kind of conclusion we can draw about the individual. It became clear that metadata and data shared creates a very easy picture of someone, something to be careful about. With that we concluded the first section of the day.
Coming back from lunch we continued with the day on the topic of body and societal norms throughout history, from ancient Greek to present day, specifically in the European/Western hemisphere. This was combined with the fact that media (while differently that what we know today) existed at the time, and it DID in fact affect what was considered beauty. The method used was collage.
Participants were divided into 5 groups, each were given a task to present the societal norms, beauty standards and how and what kinds of media played a role to disseminate these norms across the societies.
After another coffee break it was time to present the fake news assignment of the participant countries. Every country had their own approach to their presentation, from interactive quizzes to presenting videos and clips from their first person experiences on their topics.
The day was finalized with the colourful culture nights, where Armenia, Cyprus and Georgia introduced their countries with fun presentations,games, dances and delicious food from their home country.
Day 3: Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Co-written by the Polish team
Third day of Media Mind was intense and undoubtedly satisfying. The day started as always with energiser, but this time in place of common energiser, we've got an extension of Armenian cultural night from the night before and that way energiser took a form of traditional Armenian dance.
The first activity of the day made us focus on problems of mental health in times of social media. This was done in the form of World Cafe with the following prompts:
- How does the media we consume daily (social media, news, entertainment) impact our mental health?
- How can misinformation and sensationalism in the media contribute to stress and anxiety?
- What strategies can we use to differentiate between reliable and harmful media sources?
- How does social media contribute to comparison culture, and what can we do to protect our mental well-being?
- What role should schools and communities play in teaching media literacy for mental well-being?
- How do influencers shape public opinions and consumer behavior?
What surprised us the most was the second activity, when we were taken to the beach. There we've got paints and brushes, collected some rocks, and painted our personal safe spaces on them. We've spent a great time painting and expressing ourselves. This focused on the idea that often, completely avoiding social media is a viable method in combatting mental health issues.
Later during the day we met to enjoy a very engaging activity named "Bad Product/Good Marketing," during which we had to first create the worst possible product or service and then, upon exchanging the products with team members, ideas to find a good purpose for them and "sell" them. This activity focused on the fact that often even big companies fail to understand their target audience and, just as importantly, which platform their target audience is in order to advertise and thus use the media properly.
The last activity of the day focused on creating our own life-timelines to describe our experience with media and how they had an impact on us. This was a personal activity, focusing on self, resilience, and self-awareness, as media was embedded in our lives.
The day was finished with Greek, Moldovan & Romanian Intercultural Night. The great meeting with the history, culture, and tastes of each country led us to have a good rest and prepare for more in the next few days.
Day 4: Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
Co-written by the Moldovan team
On the fourth day of the Media Mind project, we embarked on an enriching cultural excursion. Our first stop was at Kourion, near Limassol, where we visited the impressive ancient amphitheater, a historical venue still actively used for events today. We explored the Agora, the ruins of an ancient Greek city, discovering the fascinating Nymphaeum of Kourion, House of Gladiators, and the House of Achilles. At the House of Achilles, we were particularly captivated by the remarkably preserved ancient mosaics. Evangelia and Erma guided us expertly, providing engaging insights into the historical significance and context of each site, greatly enhancing our experience.
Afterward, our journey continued to Limassol city itself. We had ample time to explore this vibrant city, starting with the medieval castle, where we learned extensively about Limassol's and Cyprus's rich history. Later, we enjoyed a pleasant walk together along Limassol's picturesque streets, taking memorable photos and appreciating various points of interest around the city.
We concluded the day at Meze Taverna restaurant, where most of the group gathered to enjoy what turned out to be an unforgettable culinary experience. We tasted an extensive variety of traditional local dishes, providing us with a deeper appreciation of Cypriot culture and cuisine.
Day 5: Thursday, March 27, 2025
Co-written by the Jordanian team
The fifth day of the Media Mind project was a dynamic and engaging experience. We kicked off the morning with an energizer activity led by Romania, which got our energy levels up and ready for the day.
The first activity of the day was a two-parter. The first was a presentation by trainers Bobbie and Erma, about specific political cases of Cyprus, focusing on the fact that even news anchors and even politicians often get facts wrong, thus exacrubating misinformation. The key takeaway of the presentation was for participants to always look out for 5 key things in any news articles. These are -
- Check the source
- verify if the website or publication is reputable. If yes, check WHO is funding it, who benefits from their opinions?
- Bias and Agenda
- as above
- Language and tone
- Sensationalist, overly emotional, or extreme language? Probably a red flag
- Verify accompanying images
- is it using altered imagery? Is the image relevant to the news?
- Check Official Sources
- if a claim involves government policies, check the official source also.
Using the learnings above, we went on to the next activity, titled "Create Your Own Fake News!", where we designed and presented our own fake news articles. This was a fun and creative way to think critically about the media and its impact on our lives. Participants used the 5 key points above to produce them, both in physical form as well as act them out.
The afternoon activity focused on "Therapeutic Photography", whereby participants were asked to take photos of them, as they see themselves now and the future. This exercise encouraged us to reflect on our personal growth, goals, and aspirations.
On this day we also had the second part of Social Media and its links to body image, and thus, we had an activity, whereby on a piece of large paper, we were given paints, and we drew silhouettes of our bodies and filled them up with terms, hashtags and iconography of how we see ourselves. It was interesting to see how media itself affected the iconography that we subconsciously chose to have.
The day ended in a fantastic cultural night, where Jordan, Poland, and Germany took center stage. We indulged in delicious food, danced to amazing music, and just had the best time. It was a wonderful way to bond with each other and celebrate our diversity.
Day 6: Friday, March 28, 2025
Co-written by the Armenian team
Starting off the day with the Moldovan energizer, we headed straight to the activities, this time, in a competitive debate. Along with three judges, the debate was 1 v 1, with topics of social media and its link to AI.
The twist here was that participants were already given the position they should defend.
Participants focused on numerous techniques, and the judges voted based on this criteria. This included
- Appeal to authority, by both directly addressing the audience and the judges, as well as referring to established examples
- Avoidance of the term "in my opinion", thus presenting something as fact, as oppose to something subjective
- Dodging responsibility. When asked to defend positions were AI was to blame, participants often purposely through responsibility to other regularly bodies, a tremendous technique
This debate led to a discussion about the above key points.
Afterwards, trainer Bobbie hosted a session called Erasmus+ Opportunities, where participants went through all other opportunities that the European Commission offers. Special attention was given to the importance of dissemination and visibility, which is what the afternoon focused on.
For the afternoon, each national team worked on focused final projects on media literacy and made videos focusing not only on this but also on the program as well, using the method of video to spread awareness. Participants focused on the fact that the videos were done in the national language (thus broader reach in local communities) as well as subtitling (for viewers who may have hearing loss). This will be one of the many ways that this project is disseminated.
Media Literacy and promotion videos at the link: https://mediamind.webnode.page/promotion-videos/
Day 7: Saturday, March 29, 2025
Co-written by the Greek team
The last day of the project!
The day began with a watch party of all the final products created by each and every country. There was a discussion about what this means and how this will be used for disseminating the knowledge, tools, and skills gained from this project further. In order to better remember the aforementioned learning, we took part in an activity called Reflection Theatre. In 6 teams, we created 6 small comedic theatrical plays, based on each day of the project.
This led to goodbye messages to one another, with a piece of paper on our backs, taped to write messages. These messages were sealed and will be read upon the arrival of the participants at home.
The afternoon focused on follow-ups, meaning we learned exactly in what way each of us will disseminate this information further, as well as the workshops we will conduct in our local communities with local youth workers to spread these newly gained activities further.
We then received the youth passes in a guessing-type game, as well as received gifts graciously provided to us by the Pissouri council and the day was over with group photos
Youth Pass Ceremony Photos at the link: https://mediamind.webnode.page/youth-pass-ceremony/
