Irene Andriopoulou

Irene Andriopoulou is a global media literacy expert, researcher, policy analyst and practitioner for 20 years. She first met with media literacy through the Hellenic Audiovisual Institute (IOM) in Greece where as Head of Media Literacy Dpt led national initiatives and public policies aligned with the EU. Among the first members of EU Media Literacy Expert Group (2006) and has been participating as national delegate / observer ever since. Appointed member of the EU Expert Group on Tackling Disinformation and Promoting Digital Literacy through Education and Training (2022, 2025), co-authoring the Guidelines for Educators. Works with UNESCO for over a decade, being the Greek editor of UNESCO “Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Teachers” (Gr. Eds, 2014), drafting declarations, policy papers and publications. Elected in 2019 (majority of votes) as global co-Secretary General of the International Steering Committee for UNESCO Media & Information Literacy Alliance. Received in 2023 the 1st Prize of Global MIL Awards by UNESCO MIL Alliance for her long-time, incessant allegiance in the field.

Her outlook has always been from the public policy perspective, supporting the development of policies, hence her current PhD on national media literacy policies. From 2018-2024, she was Head of Research, Studies and Education at EKOME in Greece, coordinating the EU Sub Chapter Mediterranean Group of UNESCO MIL Alliance and promoting national ML agenda. Presently, she is the Director of Creative Hub GR, of the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center – Creative Greece, the national organization by the Ministry of Culture dedicated to CCIs. Also, Executive Director of CIFEJ, International Center of Films for Children and Young People. Irene is the Greek author of “Media Literacy: Keys to Interpreting Media Messages" (Silverblatt, DIMLE 2016), among a series of over 40 articles and journal publications. Through evidence - based research combined with practice and extensive public speaking, her upper goal is to achieve lifelong learning media literacy competences for all. BA on Communication & Mass Media, Athens University, MA in Media Studies, Sussex University, UAB PhD Candidate