Join the Being Online art challenge

News & insights
December 1, 2025
Aferdita Bytyqi
By -

In our increasingly digital world, young people are constantly navigating identity, privacy and connection. A new digital gallery from DTH-Lab and the Global Mental Health Action Network invites young people to share creative expressions of their lived online experiences.

We are living in an age of unprecedented digital connection, where boundaries between offline and online worlds are increasingly blurred. It is imperative to understand how young people experience the online world and the constant negotiation of identities, privacy and connection that unfolds within it. 

The online world is an important setting for health and well-being. Digital technologies and platforms offer opportunities for knowledge, connection and self-expression. At the same time, digital environments can expose people to information, content and behaviours that are detrimental to their well-being. Finding a balance between these positive and negative impacts of digitalization is a challenge for individuals and society alike.

Announcing Being Online: a digital gallery

Announcing Being Online: a digital gallery

Launched today and running until February 2026, Being Online is a digital gallery by DTH-Lab in collaboration with Global Mental Health Action Network – Child & Youth Working Group. It will bring together creative expressions from young people about what it’s like to grow up and connect in digital environments and how it shapes their well-being.  

DTH-Lab Executive Director, Aferdita Bytyqi said: “As the saying goes ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Visual storytelling can capture experiences and convey ideas in ways other mediums often cannot. From design and photography to illustrations , these approaches speak directly to young people. With that in mind, the gallery will serve as a participatory space where young people can share their realities and build a collective visual narrative of the digital age.”

Addressing the digital determinants of health

Addressing the digital determinants of health

This initiative builds on DTH-Lab’s ongoing work to make young people’s digital well-being a global public health priority and to address the digital determinants of health: how digital technologies and online ecosystems influence health and well-being. By inviting creative expressions from young people, the gallery will highlight how digital shapes their lives and will help spark wider public conversation..

By curating a digital gallery with young artists’ work, DTH-Lab aims to:

  • Surface the impact of digital environments on young people’s emotional, mental, physical and social well-being. 
  • Engage with young people through creative and visual mediums that move beyond technical jargon, creating an inclusive space where young people can critically and imaginatively explore what it means to grow up and live in digital environments.  
  • Highlight the diversity of online experiences and facilitate inter-generational dialogue on what it means to grow up and connect in increasingly digital worlds. 
  • Contribute to broader advocacy and dialogue by creating a lasting visual archive of young people’s online experiences through visual storytelling and providing insights that inform youth-centred policies.  
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References

As Executive Director of DTH-Lab, I'm driving forward the recommendations of the Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030 — bridging digital literacy, health literacy and civic engagement to empower communities and ensure young people thrive in a digital world. I am passionate about operationalizing innovative governance models to advance equity, protect communities and drive meaningful health outcomes in the digital transformations for health.  From building multistakeholder partnerships to co-creating solutions with young people, I work to strengthen health systems, protect digital health rights and foster sustainable, inclusive digital health ecosystems.  

My career spans over 25 years, spearheading international research, development, and regeneration initiatives on behalf of multilateral and bilateral agencies, as well as private donors. My previous professional roles include ICS Integrare, MBM, FAO, WHO and the Senior Coordinator of the Lancet and Financial Times Commission.

I am a DTH-Lab Founding Member and member of the Steering Committee; Member of the Advisory Board: “Health literacy of adolescents in Switzerland in an increasingly digital society” by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Member of the OECD Expert Group on AI in Health . I have a Dipl. Ing in Architecture and an M.Sc. in Urban Design in Development from UCL.

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