For humanists, the commitment to reason and evidence is a condition for people making free, informed choices about their own lives. But pseudoscience and disinformation undermine that freedom, they erode trust in reliable knowledge, feed discrimination, and are often used to justify policies that harm people’s health and rights. Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises everyone’s right to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. SciLit.eu is built on the view that this right includes being able to understand how scientific knowledge is produced and how to tell it apart from claims that only look like science.
SciLit.eu is interactive and gamified, including quizzes, simulations, animations, scenarios in which learners make decisions, case studies and fact-checking exercises. Four modules are available now: Think Freely, See Clearly, Know Your Brain and Trust Wisely. Three more will be published on 28 October: Decode Narratives, Embrace Uncertainty and Take Action. Learners earn badges as they go and a certificate when they complete the full path.
All content is available in English, Romanian, Italian, French, Slovenian, Hungarian and Bulgarian, and access is free. Although the project was developed in Europe, anyone, anywhere, can create an account and use it.
Users in the partner countries who complete all the modules will be able to apply for the national ideation labs, 3-day events where they’ll work together on their own initiatives to counter disinformation in their communities. The most active participants will be selected to attend the project’s final conference in Italy in 2028. To take part in these next stages, learners need to complete the online modules by March 2027 at the latest.
SciLit was designed for self-paced learning, but it also works well with groups. Facilitation notes on the platform help teachers, youth workers and group leaders use the modules in workshops, classrooms or youth programmes. Humanist organisations running education, youth or science-outreach activities are welcome to use it with their members and communities. They can also contact ASUR if they want to share how they are using it.
“The Amsterdam Declaration begins by saying that humanists strive to be ethical and strive to be rational. SciLit is our attempt to take both seriously,” said Patricia Fechet, project manager. “Being able to weigh evidence is part of every person’s freedom to shape their own life. And while science gives us the means, it is our values that decide what we use it for. We didn’t build a platform that tells young people what to think, but one that helps them think for themselves.”
SciLit is part of the project “Scientific Literacy as a Catalyst for Change: Addressing pseudoscience and science disinformation in relation to human rights”. ASUR coordinates it together with partner organizations in Italy, France, Slovenia, Hungary and Bulgaria, and it is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
Besides the platform, the project includes ideation labs and youth-led campaigns, where learners can put what they’ve learned into practice, as well as policy recommendations for decision-makers, drawing on the young people’s experience and the project’s results.
The Secular Humanist Association of Romania (ASUR) was founded in 2010 and its mission is to promote secularism, human rights, critical thinking and science in public life in Romania.
ASUR is a Member Organisation of Humanists International.
Explore the platform: https://scilit.eu
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National Agency (ANPCDEFP). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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