Why is the project needed?

The digital world has changed the way young people communicate, build relationships, explore their sexuality, and understand themselves. However, education does not always keep pace with these changes. Teenagers face challenges such as grooming, sextortion, body shaming, and image-based abuse, while also navigating consent, boundaries, emotions, relationships, and their well-being in digital environments. Many of these issues are closely connected to young people’s everyday online and offline lives, yet they do not always have enough opportunities to discuss them openly or explore how they can respond to these challenges. CTRL+ALT+LOVE responds to this need by addressing sexuality education, digital safety, emotional well-being, relationships, and respectful communication as interconnected aspects of young people’s lives. 

Our Vision

We envision a future where young people can approach sexuality, relationships, and digital content with greater awareness, confidence, and critical thinking. We want them to understand the importance of consent and healthy boundaries, recognise unhealthy or harmful patterns in relationships, and reflect critically on the messages they encounter online.

This includes understanding that what young people see online does not necessarily reflect reality. It also means being able to critically reflect on how online dating, digital interactions, and pornography can shape expectations and perceptions of intimacy and relationships. At the same time, we aim to create spaces where these topics can be discussed openly, respectfully, and from different perspectives, helping young people make sense of the digital environments they are part of.

Our Innovative Solution

CTRL+ALT+LOVE takes a different approach to sexuality education by putting young people’s experiences and voices at the centre of the process. Instead of delivering pre-designed training, the project uses a participatory, youth-led approach in which young people and youth workers contribute to the development, testing, and dissemination of the project’s activities and resources.

The project combines co-creation workshops, an international Living Lab, and an online hackathon to develop and test content and digital tools. It will also create adaptable play cards for online and offline use, allowing youth workers and youth centres to adjust activities to different groups and contexts. Young people will contribute to dissemination through community activities, local campaigns, and podcasts. The project’s outputs will be suitable for different educational and youth settings, including schools, youth centres, universities, or sports clubs.

Benefits

CTRL+ALT+LOVE offers practical benefits to both young people and the youth workers who support them, creating a more relevant and engaging approach to sexuality education in the digital age.

Greater Digital Confidence: Young people will strengthen their ability to recognise online risks, protect themselves, and make safer and more informed decisions in digital environments.

Healthier Relationships: Participants will develop a stronger understanding of consent, boundaries, respectful communication, and emotional well-being, both online and offline.

Youth Participation: By contributing their experiences and perspectives, young people will help shape resources that reflect their everyday realities while learning from peers with different backgrounds.

Practical Support for Youth Workers: Educators will gain creative activities, practical methodologies, and adaptable resources for addressing sensitive topics with greater confidence.

Long-Term Impact: By combining youth participation with practical tools for professionals, CTRL+ALT+LOVE offers a replicable approach to making sexuality education more relevant, accessible, and responsive to the needs of today’s youth.