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Sixth Global Summit: Using Education and Municipal Partnerships and Services to Safeguard Youth Online

Publication Date:

22/01/2026

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Event Reports

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Community PartnershipsDigital Harmsdigital literacyMisogynist HatePreventing online harmsSixth Global SummitTorontoWhole-of-City Collaboration

— 8 minutes reading time

This report provides a summary of discussions during the session and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Introduction

On 9 – 11 December 2025, the Strong Cities Network held its Sixth Global Summit in Toronto (Canada), bringing together more than 300 representatives of local governments, national governments, civil society organisations, academia, the private sector and international organisations. This included nearly 60 mayors and governors, as well as 110 other local government officials from 100 cities and 42 countries. Under the theme Stronger Together: Forging Safer, Connected, Thriving Cities in a Changing World, the Summit provided a platform for city leaders to share practical and innovative solutions to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation, and build safer, more resilient and more inclusive communities.

The Summit included a parallel session titled Using Education and Municipal Partnerships and Services to Safeguard Youth Online, which explored how municipalities can protect young people from online harms by strengthening digital literacy, fostering belonging and leveraging schools, libraries and other local services and partnerships. Through a facilitated dialogue, the session examined the role of cities as conveners and connectors across education systems, community organisations and trusted third spaces in responding to evolving digital risks facing youth.

Scene-Setters:

• Eunhye Lee, Program Manager, North American Hub, Strong Cities Network – Moderator
• Dylan Rivera, Director of Policy Planning and Implementation, City of Chattanooga (Tennessee, United States)
• Kenneth Boyd, Director of Education, CIVIX (Canada)
• Mackenzie Rice, Principal Strategic Advisor, Christchurch Call Foundation (New Zealand)

Key Takeaways

• Youth are on the frontlines of rapidly evolving digital harms. Shaped by AI and algorithms, young people navigate an environment where online and offline realities are inseparable. Harms unfold simultaneously across emotional, social and safety dimensions and are accelerated by digital technologies, while adults and institutions remain focused on outdated risks or tools.
• Cities should leverage their unique convening and connecting capabilities to safeguard youth from these harms. Municipalities are uniquely positioned to build a prevention and response ecosystem that includes schools, libraries, police, youth services, community-based organisations, caregivers and youth themselves to safeguard young people from online harms. Municipalities can provide micro-grants, support digital media literacy training, create youth advisory structures and help distribute responsibility for youth online safety across community partners, rather than placing it solely on schools and families.
• Trust, agency and belonging are the foundation of effective prevention. Prevention works best when youth are met with trust, consistency and belonging. Third spaces like libraries, clubs, faith spaces and community organisations play a critical role, especially during after-school hours.

Key Themes 

1. Youth on the Frontlines of Rapidly Evolving Digital Harms

Speakers emphasised that young people face a growing range of online risks shaped by both long-standing challenges and rapidly evolving technologies. Mackenzie Rice, Principal Strategic Advisor, Christchurch Call Foundation, noted that while new digital harms continue to emerge, institutions are often still struggling to address risks associated with older technologies. Youth are increasingly encountering hybridised harms, including child sexual exploitation and the misuse of AI-enabled tools, while seeking connection and socio-emotional support online.

Speakers highlighted that many young people are turning to digital spaces for community and belonging, particularly when they feel alienated or disenfranchised offline. This dynamic creates both opportunities for connection and heightened exposure to harm, especially as youth engage with AI companions, chatbots and gaming platforms. Across contexts, participants stressed that young people experience a disproportionate share of online harms and are often navigating these environments with limited adult guidance.

Kenneth Boyd, Director of Education, CIVIX, underscored that misinformation and disinformation are not new phenomena, but emerging technologies have fundamentally altered the information environment. Young people expressed growing scepticism about what is real online and described traditional news media as biased, boring or irrelevant, pushing them toward alternative information sources that may be less reliable.

Participants also pointed to the Digital Uncertainty, Civic Courage (DUCC) programme developed by the Polarization & Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) as an example of education-based prevention. DUCC equips educators and students with tools to navigate uncertainty, misinformation and polarising content online, supporting youth agency and resilience through structured learning rather than punitive approaches.

2. Prevention through Education, Trust and Youth Agency

Speakers emphasised that education remains a cornerstone of youth online safety, but approaches must evolve to reflect how young people actually experience digital life. Speakers noted that digital media literacy education should support young people in understanding how to live their online lives responsibly and positively, rather than focusing narrowly on risk avoidance. For example, CIVIX programmes such as Student Vote and CTRL-F: Find the Facts, were cited as concrete examples of education-based approaches that move beyond how to avoid cyberbullying to address misinformation, democratic participation and youth agency online.

Dylan Rivera, Director of Policy Planning & Implementation, City of Chattanooga (Tennessee, United States), highlighted that governments must resist the tendency to assume they know what is best for young people without first listening to their concerns and needs. Building trust requires sustained engagement, even when conversations are uncomfortable, and transparency about what youth input can realistically influence. Failure to manage expectations risks further eroding trust.

Speakers stressed the importance of local governments leveraging existing trusted relationships, particularly with teachers and educators, many of whom remain credible figures for young people. At the same time, reliance on schools alone places an unsustainable burden on educators. Therefore, participants pointed to the need to strengthen the critical role of third spaces, including youth clubs, libraries and community organisations, where young people feel safer and more welcomed.

3. Cities as Conveners: Whole-of-City Approaches to Youth Online Safety

The discussion highlighted the unique role municipalities can play as conveners and connectors across the systems that interact with youth. Chattanooga’s Dylan Rivera described how local governments can reduce barriers to engagement by meeting young people where they already are, whether in community spaces, faith-based settings or informal gathering places, rather than formal institutional environments, such as classrooms, government offices or law enforcement-affiliated settings, that may heighten fear or disengagement.

Speakers pointed to cross-sector initiatives that redirect youth with advanced digital skills. The Cyber Choices programme in Portsmouth (United Kingdom), was shared as an example of early intervention delivered through coordinated support from police, local government, civil society and industry partners. It works with cohorts of young people to divert them from criminal pathways by connecting them with positive opportunities, including mentoring and placements with technology firms.

CCF’s Mackenzie Rice noted that local governments are well-positioned to coordinate partnerships across civil society, education systems and families, helping distribute responsibility for youth online safety rather than placing it solely on parents, guardians or schools. Convening diverse actors around shared information and trends also helps break down silos and build shared situational awareness.

Participants also pointed to youth microgrant programmes as a preventive, whole-of-city tool that enables municipalities to strengthen youth leadership by mobilising schools, community organisations and trusted local partners. For example, the Anti-Racism Youth Microgrants programme of the City of Fredericton (New Brunswick), Canada, provides small grants to young people aged 15–30, paired with partnerships with schools or community organisations and capacity-building workshops on project planning and community engagement.

4. Strengthening Belonging through Early Support and Care Networks

Speakers underscored that safeguarding youth online requires local governments to give more attention to the broader social contexts shaping young people’s lives. In some settings, an increasing number of young people face housing instability, caregiving disruptions or limited adult supervision, which can increase vulnerability to online harms. City-led and/or coordinated engagement with families and caregivers remains essential and municipal approaches must remain flexible and inclusive of non-traditional guardians and support networks.

The discussion highlighted the importance of consistent, caring adults beyond immediate family members. Research and practice show that even one trusted adult can significantly reduce risk and improve resilience. Creating spaces where youth can connect with peers and supportive adults during critical after-school hours was identified as particularly important.

Next Steps

Overall, the session underscored that safeguarding youth online requires approaches that reflect the realities of young people’s digital lives and the ecosystems that surround them. Effective prevention depends on consistent adult presence, trusted relationships and accessible spaces where young people feel seen and supported, alongside coordinated action across education systems, community services, families and guardians and trusted local partners. Municipalities play a critical role in creating the conditions for this work by convening actors, supporting early intervention and ensuring that responsibility for youth online safety is shared across the community.

Key next steps for the Strong Cities Network include:

• Equip cities to convene and coordinate schools, libraries, youth services, civil society organisations and families and guardians, reducing the burden on any single institution and strengthening shared situational awareness around youth online risks.
• Advise cities to regularly update youth online safety and digital literacy approaches to reflect emerging risks, including AI companions, algorithm-driven exposure, hybrid online-offline harms and the gap between adult and local government assumptions and youth digital behaviours.
• Document and share practical models, such as youth microgrants, third space programming and early intervention initiatives that redirect digital skills toward positive pathways, helping cities support belonging, agency and prevention without relying solely on enforcement.

Additional Resources

Recent Strong Cities policy briefs and resources:

• City Leadership in Partnering with Local Communities for Social Cohesion: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• National-Local Cooperation: Opportunities and Lessons Learned for Secondary and Tertiary Prevention, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• City Leadership in the Face of Rising Incivility and Polarisation: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• Innovations in Prevention: Piloting Multi-Actor Frameworks in Small and Mid-Sized Cities in the United States, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• A Toolkit for Cities: Building a Multi-Actor Local Prevention Framework, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• A Toolkit for Manitoba Municipalities: Addressing Anti-Government Hate and Harassment, Strong Cities Network, 2025
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2025
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2025
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network, May 2024
• City Spotlights Library, Strong Cities Network

Donors & Partners

The Sixth Global Summit was co-hosted with the City of Toronto and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and delivered with generous support from the Government of Canada, The Fourth Freedom Forum, The Toronto Foundation and Charities Aid Foundation.

Contact Information 

For more information about the Sixth Global Summit or the Strong Cities Network, please contact [email protected].

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