Empowering teenagers in the digital era: a workshop experience for digital literacy and civic engagement

To better equip teenagers as informed and active participants in an increasingly digital and connected world, we designed an innovative workshop-based methodology. The workshop integrates three key approaches: (i) design thinking, to foster creativity and collaboration in digital content and technology creation; (ii) citizen science, to explore data, citizenship, and civic engagement; and (iii) game thinking, to enhance problem-solving through playful digital tools. We conducted four editions of the workshop, involving 149 Italian students (aged 16-18). Each edition addressed a specific sustainability-related challenge, such as tourism, digital well-being, urban accessibility, or environmental emergencies. Findings and insights from these experiences confirm the workshop's effectiveness as an engaging and playful educational tool for teaching digital literacy through technology-driven topics and civic engagement.