Classroom Ciberimaginario
Course Content
Section outline
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Welcome to the POWER educational platform — Prevention Of Weaponization and Enhancing Resilience against security-related disinformation on clean energy.
This course explores the critical intersection between clean energy and disinformation. Over five modules, you will build a solid understanding of clean energy technologies, learn to identify and analyse disinformation narratives that target the energy transition, develop science communication skills, and apply everything in a hands-on integrated campaign.
The course is structured around the five-day Clean Energy Café programme and can be followed both as a companion to the face-to-face events (held in Romania, Malta, and Spain) and as a standalone self-paced online learning experience.
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This module provides a foundational understanding of disinformation, exploring its definitions, characteristics, and impacts on public opinion and decision-making. It highlights the differences between disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation, offering insights into why and how disinformation is used to undermine societal progress.
Objectives:
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- 1. Understand the concept and significance of disinformation.
- 2. Identify key tactics and strategies employed in spreading false narratives.
- 3. Develop awareness of the social and environmental consequences of disinformation.
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Students mustComplete the activity
Welcome to the POWER Project and the Clean Energy Cafés. Over the next five days, you will take part in an immersive learning experience at the intersection of clean energy and disinformation — combining lectures, hands-on scenarios, and collaborative workshops.In this opening session, you will disc
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Opens: Monday, 26 October 2026, 9:00 AMCloses: Monday, 26 October 2026, 11:59 PM
This short questionnaire assesses your starting knowledge of clean energy and disinformation before the programme begins. It has 18 multiple-choice questions covering all five modules: disinformation fundamentals, clean energy sources, narratives and modus operandi, science communication, and practical application. There are no right or wrong answers that affect you — your results are anonymous and used only to measure learning across the week, by comparing this pre-test with the post-test on Day 5. Answer as best you can; if you are unsure, choose the option that seems most reasonable. It takes about 10–15 minutes.
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Opens: Monday, 26 October 2026, 9:00 AMCloses: Monday, 26 October 2026, 11:59 PM
This short questionnaire captures your expectations before the Clean Energy Café begins. There are no right or wrong answers — we simply want to know your starting point, your interest and what you hope to get out of the week. Your responses are linked to your account so we can compare them with the final questionnaire, but they are used only for the project's evaluation and never affect any grade. It takes about 3–5 minutes.
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This interactive session builds directly on the lecture on Clean Energy Technologies (2.1.1) by putting theory into practice: you will explore real energy generation data from the POWER partner countries — Romania, Spain, Malta, and Moldova — using interactive visualisations based on Eurostat and IRENA open data. By comparing how each country generates its electricity, you will understand the different energy profiles across Europe, identify which clean energy technologies play the largest role in each national context, and discuss which technologies are most vulnerable to disinformation campaigns and why.
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This introductory workshop helps participants get acquainted with the POWER Project and form working teams through an interactive icebreaker activity focused on clean energy disinformation. Participants will explore examples of misinformation and fact-checking, share their experiences with online disinformation, and collaborate to build teams that will work together throughout the course. The activity promotes critical thinking, engagement, and teamwork while introducing key themes related to energy-related disinformation and resilience.
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Now that you know more about what constitutes disinformation, it's time to see actual disinformation content regarding the wider topic of climate change.
In this interactive session, you will explore real disinformation narratives about climate change.
By analyzing them you will discover how these narratives are built, what psychological, cognitive, narrative and social drivers they exploit in order to gain traction on social media.
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Welcome to the UM Campus for the Electric Cars Immersive Scenario, where you will have the chance of becoming disinformation investigators for a day.
Imagine you work as an analyst in a governmental organisation that is encountering instances of disinformation about electric cars and clean energy in general.
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This module introduces the main clean energy sources, including solar, wind, bioenergy and hydropower. It emphasises their characteristics, benefits and their crucial role in ensuring energy security and combating climate change.
Objectives:
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- 1. Explore the fundamentals of clean energy technologies.
- 2. Understand the role of clean energy in reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
- 3. Demonstrate the link between clean energy and the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Students mustComplete the activity
In this session, you step into the role of a clean-energy consultancy. Your assignment: understand a renewable technology in context — what it is and how it works, where it stands across countries, and how it connects to the bigger picture.
You'll explore the main clean energy sources — solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass — along with the supporting technologies that make the transition possible, such as smart grids, energy storage, and efficiency systems, and emerging solutions like electric vehicles and green hydrogen. Using a live data room built on Eurostat and IRENA, you'll compare the energy mixes of Spain, Romania, Malta, and Moldova, and connect it all to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the European Green Deal — building toward a one-page briefing your team shares with the rest of the consultancy.
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This session introduces the fundamentals of fact-checking in the context of clean energy information. Participants will learn how to identify trustworthy sources, use key verification tools, and apply a structured fact-checking process to assess the accuracy of claims. Through interactive examples, they will develop practical skills for evaluating evidence and distinguishing reliable information from disinformation.
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In this collaborative workshop, participants work in teams to investigate and verify claims related to clean energy. Using reliable sources and evidence-based research, they create a structured fact-checking sheet that includes the claim, verdict, supporting evidence, and references. The session also introduces participants to the development of debunking arguments, helping them build practical skills for countering disinformation effectively.
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Welcome to a unique experience on the MVNIA Campus!Today you are digital researchers who must carry out a crucial mission for Romania’s energy future.
We have discovered a massive disinformation campaign that uses legitimate maintenance work on Romania’s hydroelectric dams to contest clean energy transition, question authorities’ intentions, delegitimize governmental clean energy plans and policies.
Your mission!
Separate facts of manipulation into an Augmented Reality experience. Identify and deactivate 4 real disinformation frames identified by the Romanian team in the POWER Project, and Discover what is actually happening with the hydropower dams!
You have 90 minutes!
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Opens: Wednesday, 25 November 2026, 12:00 AMDue: Friday, 27 November 2026, 1:00 PM
You've completed your mission as digital researchers, separating fact from manipulation in the Romanian hydropower dam disinformation campaign. Now it's time to fight back.
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This module focuses on identifying and analysing common disinformation narratives and strategies that work against clean energy solutions. Participants will learn to recognise misinformation patterns and assess their impact on public perception and policy making.
Objectives:-
- 1. Examine prevailing disinformation narratives about clean energy.
- 2. Understand the tactics and channels used to spread misinformation.
- 3. Learn to effectively counter disinformation with evidence-based communication.
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In this lecture, you will explore the key drivers behind the spread of disinformation, which range from political and geopolitical motivations to psychological vulnerabilities, platform structures, and economic incentives.
You will examine how disinformation campaigns operate in practice, including the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by state and non-state actors to manufacture, launder, and amplify false narratives.
You will also investigate the technological dimension of modern disinformation, including AI-generated deepfakes, LLM-powered bots, and emerging threats such as LLM grooming, and understand how these connect to the EU's regulatory and policy responses.
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This session introduces the April 2025 Spain Blackout as a real-world case study to explore how disinformation emerges and spreads during energy-related crises. Participants will examine findings from the POWER project analysis, identify the main narratives that circulated online, and discuss their potential impact on public perception. The case study serves as preparation for the experiential scenario, providing a practical context for applying fact-checking and debunking skills.
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This session explores effective strategies for communicating fact-checks and debunking content on social media. Participants will learn how to apply evidence-based communication techniques, including the “truth sandwich” approach, to counter misinformation without amplifying false claims. The lecture also covers the use of visual elements, audience engagement strategies, and platform-specific best practices to maximize the reach and impact of corrective messages.
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In this hands-on workshop, participants work in teams to design a social media debunking campaign addressing one of the narratives that emerged during the April 2025 Spain Blackout. Using evidence gathered from reliable sources, they create a thread of 5–7 posts that combines clear messaging, supporting evidence, source attribution, and a call to action. The activity emphasizes effective communication techniques, audience engagement, visual storytelling, and peer feedback to strengthen participants’ ability to counter disinformation in online environments.
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In this integrative case study, participants work in groups to analyse a real disinformation topic related to clean energy or science, using documented examples from the POWER project as a starting point. Each group selects a narrative, identifies real cases online, verifies the claims through reliable sources, and examines the drivers, persuasion mechanisms, and potential impacts of the disinformation. The activity concludes with a short group presentation proposing evidence-based counter-arguments and preparing the ground for the development of a positive counter-narrative in the next session.
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Opens: Wednesday, 28 October 2026, 12:00 AMDue: Friday, 30 October 2026, 1:00 PM
Upload to this task the completed Analysis Sheet (single PDF) with your group's work: the chosen disinformation narrative, the real example(s) with their source, the identified persuasion mechanism, and your evidence-based counter-messages. One member submits on behalf of the group.
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This module equips participants with practical tools and strategies to communicate complex scientific concepts to different audiences. The focus is on clarity, engagement and building trust while addressing the challenges of communicating about clean energy.
Objectives:
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- 1. Learn the principles of effective science communication.
- 2. Develop skills to craft effective, audience-specific messages.
- 3. Overcome common barriers to communicating about clean energy.
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In these sessions you step into the role of a creative communications agency: your client, IRENA, is excellent at inspiring the world about renewable energy but struggles to defend it when the lies spread — and they've hired your team to fix that.
To do it, you first need the foundations of effective science communication: the core principles that make scientific messages clear, accurate, engaging and relevant; how to read and adapt to different audiences; how storytelling turns data into meaning; how to build trust and credibility as a communicator; and the most common barriers that stand between science and the public — together with practical ways to overcome them. These skills are the bridge between the clean-energy evidence you have explored in earlier modules and the counter-disinformation campaign you will build for your client.
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This session introduces storytelling as a powerful tool for developing effective counter-narratives against disinformation. Participants will explore the key elements of compelling stories, including characters, conflict, and resolution, as well as visual narrative techniques that enhance audience engagement. The lecture also examines how factual information can be integrated into narrative formats and presents successful examples of counter-narrative campaigns that have effectively challenged misinformation and promoted informed public understanding.
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In this creative workshop, participants work in teams to design a counter-narrative that addresses a clean energy or science-related disinformation topic through storytelling. Building on the concepts explored in previous sessions, each group develops a storyboard for a short video or comic, incorporating characters, dialogue, visual elements, and evidence-based factual anchors. The activity encourages creativity, collaboration, and strategic communication, while peer review sessions provide opportunities to refine ideas and strengthen the effectiveness of the final narrative.
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Opens: Thursday, 29 October 2026, 12:00 AMDue: Friday, 30 October 2026, 12:00 AM
In this workshop your group has turned the disinformation case you analysed into a short counter-narrative comic, produced with Pixton. Now it's time to submit it.
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This Open Educational Resource is an experiential scenario in which participants take on the role of scriptwriters. Inspired by the narrative format of TV series, the activity challenges teams to explore real locations on their campus and create fictional scenes that address actual disinformation narratives about clean energy — weaving verified scientific data into dramatic storytelling.
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This module offers practical activities and case studies to apply the knowledge acquired in the previous modules. Participants will take part in simulations, role plays and collaborative problem solving to consolidate their understanding and skills.
Objectives:
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- 1. Apply theoretical knowledge to real-life scenarios.
- 2. Practise writing narratives to effectively debunk disinformation.
- 3. Strengthen critical thinking and teamwork through interactive exercises.
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This session is dedicated to the refinement and finalisation of the integrated communication campaigns developed throughout the course. Working with facilitator support, teams strengthen their campaign concepts, prepare presentation materials, and ensure coherence across all campaign components. The workshop also provides time for rehearsal and peer feedback, helping participants refine their messaging, improve presentation skills, and prepare for the final showcase of their evidence-based responses to clean energy disinformation.
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The final session provides participants with the opportunity to present and defend their integrated communication campaigns addressing clean energy disinformation. Each group delivers a campaign pitch showcasing the narrative selected, the evidence gathered, the communication strategy designed, and the creative materials developed throughout the programme. Presentations are followed by discussion and feedback, allowing participants to reflect on the strengths and challenges of their proposals. The session concludes with a post-programme assessment, participant feedback activities, recognition of outstanding campaigns, and a closing ceremony celebrating the skills and knowledge acquired during the course.
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Opens: Friday, 30 October 2026, 12:00 AMDue: Friday, 30 October 2026, 11:59 PM
Upload your presentation in this task. Only one participante per group.
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Opens: Friday, 30 October 2026, 9:00 AMCloses: Friday, 30 October 2026, 11:59 PM
This is the final knowledge test for the POWER Clean Energy Café. It contains the same questions as the test you took on Day 1, covering all five modules: disinformation fundamentals, clean energy sources, narratives and modus operandi, science communication, and practical application. By comparing your results with the initial test, we can measure what you've learned across the week. Answer as best you can; if you're unsure, choose the option that seems most reasonable. Your results are used only for the project's evaluation. It takes about 10–15 minutes.
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Opens: Friday, 30 October 2026, 9:00 AMCloses: Friday, 30 October 2026, 11:59 PM
This short questionnaire captures your expectations before the Clean Energy Café begins. There are no right or wrong answers — we simply want to know your starting point, your interest and what you hope to get out of the week. Your responses are linked to your account so we can compare them with the final questionnaire, but they are used only for the project's evaluation and never affect any grade. It takes about 3–5 minutes.
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As you complete this course, take a moment to reflect on everything you have learned. You have explored how disinformation works and why it targets clean energy, gained a solid understanding of renewable energy sources, and developed practical skills to identify misleading narratives, fact-check information, and communicate effectively.
You now have the tools to distinguish evidence from manipulation and to contribute to more informed conversations about the energy transition. This is not the end, but the beginning of your role in promoting a more critical and fact-based approach to clean energy.