The REAL TALK project was officially launched with a two-day in-person kick-off meeting in Milan, hosted by IRC Italy at the Randstad Box. Partners from Italy, Poland, Estonia, and the Netherlands came together to align on the project’s vision, methodology, and next steps, marking the start of a two-year collaboration to prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and cyber gender-based violence (CGBV) among adolescents aged 11–16.
Funded under the EU CERV Programme (Daphne), REAL TALK responds to the growing need for early, effective prevention of violence in both offline and digital environments. Adolescence is a critical phase where young people form relationships, develop identities, and increasingly engage with online spaces, often without the tools to recognise harmful behaviours or challenge gender norms.
At the heart of the project is the development of a cross-cultural socio-emotional and relational education model, which will promote emotional literacy, consent, healthy relationships, and digital safety. The model will be co-created with adolescents and adapted across different cultural contexts, ensuring relevance and long-term impact.
REAL TALK adopts a multi-level approach, engaging not only adolescents but also caregivers—particularly fathers—school staff, informal educators, and policymakers. Through workshops, training, and participatory activities, the project aims to strengthen young people’s capacity to build respectful relationships, while supporting adults to create safer and more supportive environments around them.
ICDI’s role: connecting practice, learning, and impact
ICDI leads the project’s communication, dissemination, and advocacy work, ensuring that results are visible, accessible, and translated into policy and practice at national and European level. In addition, ICDI coordinates training workshops for partners, supporting the effective implementation and scaling of the project’s model across countries.
Beyond coordination, ICDI brings strong expertise in digital safety, child participation, and evidence-based programming, ensuring that adolescents’ voices are central to both the project design and its outreach.
Building on existing expertise: from CYBERSAFE to E-mpowerYouth
ICDI’s involvement in REAL TALK builds directly on its previous and ongoing work in the field of online safety and youth empowerment.
Through the CYBERSAFE project, ICDI and partners developed practical tools to help adolescents and educators understand and prevent online gender-based violence, laying the groundwork for school-based approaches to digital safety. This was further expanded through the CYBERSAFE MOOC, which translated these tools into accessible online learning for a wider audience of practitioners and educators.
More recently, the E-mpowerYouth project (2025–2027) has deepened ICDI’s work on digital resilience, focusing on preventing online gender-based violence and strengthening young people’s agency through participatory approaches and co-created content.
REAL TALK brings these strands together and moves them forward. It expands the focus from digital safety alone to the broader intersection of online and offline relationships, gender norms, and emotional development, while placing stronger emphasis on early adolescence (11–16) and cross-cultural adaptation. It also reinforces the role of caregivers and educators, recognising that sustainable change requires engagement across the environments in which young people grow up.
Looking ahead
Over the next 24 months, the REAL TALK consortium will pilot workshops with adolescents, caregivers, and educators, co-create media and advocacy content, and engage policymakers through consultations and dialogue. Project results, including tools, training materials, and policy recommendations, will be shared widely to support uptake and replication across Europe.
The kick-off meeting set a strong foundation for collaboration, shared ownership, and a common ambition: to support young people in building safe, respectful, and equitable relationships, both offline and online.
