Natálie Terčová attended the EuroDIG (The European Dialogue on Internet Governance) conference in Tampere, Finland, from 19 to 21 June. This year's overarching theme was "Internet in troubled times: risks, resilience, hope."
Natálie was a panelist in Nurturing Digital Well-being: Addressing the Impact of the Digital Environment on Youth Mental Health. By bringing together experts, academics, policymakers, educators, and stakeholders, this session aimed to shed light on the impact of the digital environment on youth mental health and provided actionable policy insights.
Natálie remarked, "It was inspiring to hear insights and experiences from people with different professional backgrounds who share an interest in keeping young people safe online. I myself highlighted the role of opportunities for young people online, which is often overshadowed by the threat of risks. I also spoke about the dual role of digital skills and the need to recognise that the same online experiences have different outcomes for individuals, making it problematic to generalise about what is harmful online and what is not."
The annual YOUthDIG pre-conference was also part of the event, where young people aged 18-30 from across the European region work together to develop and promote "youth messages." In the working group "Bridging the Divides: Building a Conscientious Digital Ecosystem," Natálie contributed her knowledge on youth digital skills and related online opportunities and risks.
You can read this year's youth messages here.
EuroDIG is an open multi-stakeholder platform to exchange views about the Internet and how it is governed. It fosters dialogue and collaboration with the Internet community on public policy for the Internet – culminating in an annual conference that takes place in a different European city every year. EuroDIG ‘Messages’ are prepared and presented to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
