Shaping Informed Frameworks for Trust (SHIFT)

SHIFT builds the missing link in Europe’s response to disinformation: going beyond detecting harmful narratives to test what works to counter them.

In 13 EU and neighbouring countries, SHIFT investigates how disinformation reshapes public trust, and pilots scalable strategies to reverse its impact. It combines cross-national research, behavioural segmentation and real-world campaign testing to understand what shifts engagement and why. Where early warning systems show what narratives are spreading, SHIFT shows how to respond by developing interventions that resonate beyond echo chambers and measurably outperform harmful content. Civil society, media and research partners co-develop tools and evidence to rebuild public traction for constructive discourse. SHIFT will contribute to a healthier public discourse, a society more resilient to manipulation and a stronger democratic culture - all essential building blocks for a better world.

Objectives:

• understand the cognitive, cultural and emotional factors that make disinformation persuasive;
• develop and test measurable, audience-first counter-narratives;
• equip civic actors with scalable tools to increase narrative traction and reduce fragmentation;
• ensure results are reusable across Europe through shared standards and open toolkits.

Activities:

• multi-country narrative and audience analytics using harmonised methods;
• behavioural experimentation and A/B testing of counter-narratives;
• implementation of 30+ pilot interventions across media and civil society channels;
• synthesis and dissemination of results via policy briefs and toolkits.

Consortium 

Coordinator

• Center for the Study of Democracy (Bulgaria)

Partners

• GLOBSEC (Slovakia)
• Alliance4Europe (Poland)
• Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie (Germany)
• Funky Citizens (Romania)
• Idea Department act as “Logiq Media” (Germany)
• European Movement Ireland (Ireland)
• Rīga Stradiņš University (Latvia)
• Make.org (France)

RSU Team

Asst. Prof. Dr. sc. pol. Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova Manager, China Studies Centre Academic Staff, Faculty of Social Sciences Lead researcher, scientific project manager, China Studies Centre Director, Social Sciences doctoral programme, Department of Doctoral Studies	PhD Jānis Juzefovičs Lead Researcher, Faculty of Social Sciences
Vineta Kleinberga Researcher, Faculty of Social Sciences Doctoral student, Faculty of Social Sciences	Dana Dūda Affiliate Researcher, China Studies Centre Researcher, Faculty of Social Sciences Doctoral student, Faculty of Social Sciences