Tilen is studying economics and geography at Leeds university in the United Kingdom. He has an interest in undergraduate research, urban geography, politics and art. He participated in an Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange Transnational Exchange Project (TEP) for youth workers entitled “Fight Fakes, Think Critically” aimed at promoting dialogue around the topic of fake news and media literacy.
“My identity is split between Leeds and my native Ptuj (north-eastern Slovenia) and I use my interests to link my two realities together. Virtual Exchange is a perfect concept for my academic research as I’m interested in online geography and online space and how it works in practice and how it can be facilitated online.”
He suggests developing Virtual Exchange into more niche areas so everyone’s interests can be catered to and it can become more specialised.
Youth leader Spela, who also participated in “Fight Fakes, Think Critically” agrees on the beneficial impact of such exchanges and highlights that Virtual Exchange shouldn’t replace physical mobility, but should go hand-in-hand.
“We struggle to prepare these exchanges, so this VE can be helpful in the preparation. This topic of fake news has never been more relevant as it is right now. It should be available to even younger consumers. We are flooded with coronavirus information right now and we can’t know what is true and what isn’t and it is crucial on a human rights and democratic level too", Tilen concludes.
