Digital wellbeing in schools: from awareness to action

Preparing today's students for a digitally connected world is a top priority for education policymakers, schools, and the EdTech community across Europe. But as schools adopt new technologies, an essential question arises: how can digital learning environments truly support student wellbeing?

To explore this critical question, education leaders from over 30 European countries gathered in Lisbon for the sixth edition of the School Innovation Forum, organised by European Schoolnet in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and hosted at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

This year's theme, Digital Wellbeing: Navigating Technology in Schools, reflected the growing consensus that wellbeing must be a central focus of digital education policy and practice. The Forum brought together over 160 participants, including representatives from national education authorities, the European Commission, research organisations, universities, school leaders, and industry partners.

Europe needs new norms for digital wellbeing

In the opening session, Marc Durando, Executive Director of European Schoolnet, welcomed participants with a call to move beyond fragmented approaches. "To foster digital wellbeing in schools, we need collective action," he said. "It is about creating cultures of responsible digital use that span classrooms, homes, and communities."

Furthermore, Jan de Craemer, Chair of the Board of Directors and Steering Committee of European Schoolnet, stressed that digital wellbeing must now be recognised as a core dimension of digital education policy. He called on the education community to move beyond narrow debates about screen time and instead focus on the quality, purpose, and human impact of technology use:

"Digital wellbeing is not about less screen time - it's about better screen time."

He urged stakeholders to help build shared social norms to guide healthy digital engagement - at school, at home, and across communities.

Digital wellbeing: a European priority

Francesca Maltauro, Deputy Head of Unit "Digital Education" at the Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) within the European Commission, emphasised that digital wellbeing is now embedded in European education priorities, particularly under the Digital Education Action Plan.

She stressed the importance of a shared responsibility across ministries, schools, families, and industry - to ensure that digital environments promote wellbeing, equity, and inclusion.

At the same time, June Lowery-Kingston, Senior Expert and Former Head of Unit, at the European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology, outlined the importance to equip students, teachers and parents with the right resources to protect minors from online risks in today's digital world (such as online discrimination, cyberbullying, grooming, and many others). In that respect, the EU platform Better internet for Kids is responding to this challenge, with two decades of EU leadership in online child safety. Moreover, the European Commision is looking forward to present in 2026 a new action plan to combat cyberbullying, setting up a European framework to protect minors and other vulnerable groups.

Complementing this, Clara Centeno (Joint Research Centre, European Commission) presented a preview of the forthcoming EU report on Wellbeing in Digital Education. The research, based on 23 emerging practices from across Europe, underscores the need for whole-school approaches and community-wide engagement - involving learners, educators, families, policymakers, and technology providers. Out of these 23 practices, 6 are projects and initiatives that European Schoolnet either coordinates or is a partner in.

Her key message: digital wellbeing must become a guiding principle - not a side note - in education policy and practice.

The Forum also provided space for a rich policy discussion, where panellists from across Europe reflected on emerging national approaches to digital wellbeing. Drawing on insights from the newly released Agile Collection of Information (Volume 5), Cosmin Nada, Klara Bilić Meštrić, Raffaella Carro, and Sümeyye Hatice Eral shared how their respective education systems are embedding wellbeing into curricula, teacher training, and whole-school strategies.

Are we asking the right questions?

Throughout the Forum, participants reflected on how Europe's digital education strategies can evolve - moving beyond infrastructure to focus on the human experience of digital learning.

Professor Marco Gui (University of Milano-Bicocca) delivered a thought-provoking keynote that challenged assumptions around children's online autonomy. Drawing on recent research, Gui argued for a staged, community-based model of digital education, where digital competence is developed gradually within structured, age-appropriate frameworks.

He highlighted key risks of early uncritical exposure - from cognitive overload to new forms of digital inequality - and called for stronger partnerships between schools, parents, and communities to create shared norms for healthy technology use.

Digital wellbeing starts with relationships

Kristina Tammisalo (Population Research Institute, Family Federation of Finland) brought an essential and often overlooked dimension to the Forum's discussions: the role of family relationships in shaping children's digital wellbeing.

Drawing on her research into how digital tools, especially smartphones and social media, affect family dynamics, Tammisalo argued that while technology can help families stay connected, it also risks undermining the quality of relationships if used without reflection and guidance. Her work also touched on multiple dimensions of wellbeing - emotional, cognitive, and relational - showing how the timing of smartphone use can influence young people's development well into adulthood.

"The later the young adult got their smartphone as a child, the better their mental well-being on all of these dimensions."

She stressed that parents must be active partners in this process: modelling healthy digital behaviours, setting boundaries that reflect children's developmental needs, and fostering an open, trust-based dialogue about online experiences.

Importantly, she called for a shift in how we talk about technology in education. Rather than framing the debate in binary terms, "good" or "bad," "use" or "ban"; she advocated for more evidence-based, values-driven conversations that focus on the quality of children's digital experiences and their impact on wellbeing.

Her message resonated strongly with the Forum's wider call for shared responsibility across schools, families, and communities, to ensure that young people can develop the resilience, critical thinking, and digital literacy needed to navigate the online world with confidence.

What do students say?

A highlight of this year's Forum was the students panel, where a group of Portuguese secondary school students shared peer-led initiatives to promote healthy digital cultures within their school communities.

Projects ranged from:

- Digital Leaders programmes focused on peer education about screen time and social media pressure

- Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, inspired by Finland's KiVa model

- Anti-Phishing Shock Tests, designed by students to boost online safety awareness

- JVIGA ("Switch Yourself Off"), a staged mobile phone use policy co-created by students, parents, and teachers

The panel powerfully illustrated that students must be central partners in shaping positive digital cultures in schools.

Industry perspectives: designing for wellbeing

A dynamic panel with representatives from Microsoft, SMART Technologies, Airbus Foundation, and Acer explored how the EdTech industry can contribute to digital wellbeing

Key takeaways included:

- Moving from tech-first to pedagogy-first design

- Responsible and ethical AI integration

- Co-design with educators and learners

- The importance of clear policy frameworks to guide innovation

Panellists agreed that wellbeing must be a central consideration in how technologies are designed and deployed in schools.

Parallel sessions: from risk to resilience

Three interactive parallel sessions allowed participants to explore key topics in depthInfo about schoolIF:

Topic 1: Navigating the online world: addressing risks and building resilience in schools

Topic 2: Wellbeing by design: how industry can support schools to create better digital learning environments

Topic 3: Digital wellbeing for all, within and beyond the classroom

Discussions focused on practical strategies - from fostering digital resilience and citizenship, to designing inclusive, wellbeing-centred learning spaces, to harnessing the potential of AI in education.

More information about these topics with the outcomes of the sessions will be available soon on this page.

Special thanks

European Schoolnet extends special thanks to the Portuguese Directorate-General for Education (DGE), Portugal, for their collaboration and support in organising the forum. Their involvement underscores the commitment of our Network of Ministries of Education to supporting and promoting the work and mission of European Schoolnet.

Watch the wrap-up video of the 2025 edition of the School Innovation Forum