The Sphera Network
Photo credit: The Sphera Network
In the summer of 2020, the journalist platforms Cafébabel and Are We Europe requested our help to design an ambitious plan to get more young Europeans interested in current European events. The problem they wanted to tackle was the “participation paradox”: young people are quite active in volunteering and in local communities, but don’t necessarily go out and vote, or engage in politics or in other societal debates — especially at a European level.
With a pressing deadline, we quickly drew up a media outreach strategy focused on the world of young Europeans: video-first and social media-first, with plenty of podcasts. We introduced a new audience segmentation based on engagement level rather than demographics, and added various other innovative ideas to boost the involvement of young Europeans in cross-border topics with exciting media content.
The Sphera Network was selected as the best project of the application pile by DG Connect (European Commission), giving a consortium of 10 up-and-coming European media organisations the resources they needed to create a European media hub and empower young audiences to get involved in ideas that matter to them.
In 2021, a second EU grant was awarded to continue the work. We further supported the partners in securing a third grant for the project’s continuation in 2023.
2024 was another exciting year of growth, with the transfer of the coordination of Sphera from Cafébabel to Médianes. Together with the new network coordinator, we secured a fourth grant of €1.5M for the next phase — the Sphera Community.
In 2025, Sphera has grown into a truly trusted source of information across Europe. It enables collaboration among media organisations to address one of the most pressing challenges in European media: creating a sustainable and engaging media ecosystem for young Europeans (aged 16-30) that is both cross-border and distinctly European.
In the new phase, Sphera Community is focusing on (1) innovative multilingual formats, (2) collaborative sharing practices, and (3) a stronger product-oriented editorial and distribution strategy designed to generate real impact among its target audience.
TrueMotion is proud to support Médianes in ensuring the sustainability of this vibrant network, helping it evolve and navigate the fast-paced EU media ecosystem.
