Distinguishing a fake news story from a real one, recognizing an online scam before falling victim: increasingly necessary competence, especially for those who grew up in a non-digital generation.

Getting these skills is the goal of the European Erasmus+ SUM (Seniors United against Misinformation) project, which in Bologna sees the collaboration between Lepida and No Control on a program aimed at old people.

In an increasingly complex digital landscape, SUM is demonstrating that the most effective response is not mistrust, but shared knowledge. 

The model adopted is that of peer-to-peer: training people over 60 who become, in turn, trainers for their peers. 

The first two Train-the-Trainer sessions were held at Casa S.Maria delle Grazie between February and March 2026: 11 participants involved, 7 of which that have successfully completed the course and are now ready to conduct autonomous meetings in their community. 

The sessions favored dialogue over lectures, starting from concrete experiences (scams suffered, fake news shared by mistake) to address issues such as Artificial Intelligence and the attention economy. 

In the coming months, the new trainers will bring these themes directly to their communities, involving at least 10 people each, in order to conclude the journey with a plenary feedback session scheduled for June 2026.