About this initiative Frequently Asked Questions

Why has the Charter been established?

The aims of the Charter are

• to foster greater clarity and wider consensus in Europe on media literacy and media education;
• to raise the public profile of media literacy and media education in each European nation, and in Europe as a whole.
• to encourage the development of a permanent and voluntary network of media educators in Europe, bound together by their common aims, and enabled by their institutional commitment.

What is the origin of the Charter?

The Charter has been developed out of an initiative/idea of the UK Film Council and the BFI by a Steering Group representing major institutions in a limited number of countries, who have each committed to ensuring support for Steering Group meeting costs for an initial three year period (2005 - 2008). They have also each committed to promoting the Charter within their own nations, and to spreading awareness of the Charter across Europe. The Steering Group members are all people with substantial experience of media literacy provision, development and advocacy, but they do not claim that their expertise is superior to others. They play a facilitating rather than a leadership role.

The Steering Group nations, institutions and their representatives are:

• AUSTRIA: Ministry of Education, Science and Culture: Susanne Krucsay
• BELGIUM : Conseil de l'education aux medias (CEM): Patrick Verniers (Genaral secretary of the steering group)
• FRANCE : Centre de liaison de l'enseignement et les médias d'information (CLEMI): Evelyne Bevort
• GERMANY: University of Kassel: Dr Ben Bachmair
• PORTUGAL: CICCOM, University of Algarve: Dr Vítor Reia-Baptista
• SPAIN: Grupo Comunicar: Dr Ignacio Aguaded
• SWEDEN: Swedish Film Institute: Klas Viklund; and University of Karlstad, Center for Learning, Communication and Media: Pär Lundgren.
• UNITED KINGDOM: British Film Institute (BFI)

Is this an organisation? Can we join?

The Charter does not aim to create a membership organization, which would require an expensive bureaucracy and would be dependent on time-limited funding or substantial membership fees. It is not, therefore, a manifesto or a constitution. The idea of the Charter is similar to other charters and declarations, for example on human rights.

Who can sign the Charter?

Any organization or individual who supports the principles expressed in the Charter can sign it and publish their contact details on the Charter website. Organizations who directly undertake media education activities should additionally sign clauses 5 and 6, which are specifically for providers. Providers are encouraged to publish their Action Plans for Media Literacy on the website, thus enabling and encouraging dialogue and partnerships.

The Charter can have three kinds of signatory, as follows:

• Supporters - individuals who endorse the Charter's principles and wish to be publicly associated with the Charter;
• Sponsors - who endorse the Charter and signal their readiness to provide in-kind or financial support to initiatives undertaken by other signatories;
• Providers - organizations who commit to programmes of activity under the terms of the Charter.

Can I/we join the Steering Group?

By 2007-2008 it is anticipated that growing interest in the Charter will necessitate a review of its governance.

It is however the view of the current Steering Group that governance should be as minimal as possible to avoid expensive, unwieldy or counter-productive coordination model. The Steering Group's general secretary will act as point of contact (Patrick Verniers: p.verniers@media-animation.be).

Why isn't my country represented on the Steering Group?

The Steering Group is not intended to be representative of nations, institutions or sectors. The Charter depends entirely on the voluntary commitment of signatories, whose numbers will grow according to the efforts made by national and sectoral agencies who see the Charter as a good means of raising the profile of media literacy and strengthening national and international networks.

Why isn't there a version of the Charter in my language?

The International Version of the Charter is in English. Institutions who want to take on the task of promoting the Charter at national levels should first of all register with this site. They can then translate the Charter into the appropriate language, and submit this to the website, where a new national page will be created for it, including contact details for the institution concerned. Translations should keep as close as possible to the original spirit of the International Version, but making minor semantic changes where necessary. It will defeat the concept of the Charter if substantially different versions are put into circulation. Anyone wishing to challenge the quality of a translation should do so either through this website's discussion forum or direct to the institution that provided the translation.

Send your translation to the webmaster here