Polarity – Disagree Differently
Europe's digital public sphere is fragmenting. Disagreement has become performance. Conflict gets rewarded, and trust in institutions keeps falling. Meanwhile, anti-democratic voices grow faster, louder and more agile. Many young people are fluent in the language of disagreement, but lack the tools and spaces to actually practise it, especially across borders and at the EU level.
Polarity is the Evens Foundation's response — an experimental content brand built with and for Gen Z, at the centre of which is a network of European creators and creatives who want to engage with this challenge but face financial and structural barriers to doing so.
How do we tackle polarisation without talking about polarisation?
Rather than commissioning influencers, Polarity invests in the people already shaping how ideas travel online, offering funding, editorial mentoring and training to help them make work that models and talks about constructive disagreement, without needing to make polarisation the subject.
The project is built on a simple idea: research on polarisation shouldn't only live in reports that circulate among people who already agree it matters. Working with Ripple Research, Polarity is producing a baseline study mapping the polarisation landscape and creator ecosystems across a set of European countries. Polarity is also working with Values Theory pioneer Chris Rose on a Values Primer for policymakers and civil society. Creators in the Polarity network will adapt and translate these into formats their own audiences actually watch or use the findings to build their own ideas, turning research into content that can hold its own in a feed.
Year One (2026) is a deliberate R&D phase. In 2027, Polarity will present its first round of results, and seek partnerships to expand the network.
Polarity is an experiment in showing that disagreement doesn't have to be corrosive in online public life. Its aim isn't to soften differences, but to strengthen the capacity to hold them — visibly, creatively, and with the communicative force of the generation doing the holding.
Europe's digital public sphere is fragmenting. Disagreement has become performance. Conflict gets rewarded, and trust in institutions keeps falling. Meanwhile, anti-democratic voices grow faster, louder and more agile. Many young people are fluent in the language of disagreement, but lack the tools and spaces to actually practise it, especially across borders and at the EU level.
Polarity is the Evens Foundation's response — an experimental content brand built with and for Gen Z, at the centre of which is a network of European creators and creatives who want to engage with this challenge but face financial and structural barriers to doing so.
How do we tackle polarisation without talking about polarisation?
Rather than commissioning influencers, Polarity invests in the people already shaping how ideas travel online, offering funding, editorial mentoring and training to help them make work that models and talks about constructive disagreement, without needing to make polarisation the subject.
The project is built on a simple idea: research on polarisation shouldn't only live in reports that circulate among people who already agree it matters. Working with Ripple Research, Polarity is producing a baseline study mapping the polarisation landscape and creator ecosystems across a set of European countries. Polarity is also working with Values Theory pioneer Chris Rose on a Values Primer for policymakers and civil society. Creators in the Polarity network will adapt and translate these into formats their own audiences actually watch or use the findings to build their own ideas, turning research into content that can hold its own in a feed.
Year One (2026) is a deliberate R&D phase. In 2027, Polarity will present its first round of results, and seek partnerships to expand the network.
Polarity is an experiment in showing that disagreement doesn't have to be corrosive in online public life. Its aim isn't to soften differences, but to strengthen the capacity to hold them — visibly, creatively, and with the communicative force of the generation doing the holding.