Climate and Energy Fellowships for Journalists in Europe

There is a significant lack of cross-border reporting on climate and energy issues in the European media landscape. Coverage is mainly concentrated on political issues, exchange of ideas in the climate and energy sector is therefore often limited to experts. Additionally, not enough bilateral and multilateral networks for journalists in the climate and energy sector exist to ensure the exchange of trustful information.

Journalist Fellows at a conference in Berlin. Photo: (c) IJP

The project awarded annual fellowships to journalists from Germany, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia who published on climate and energy topics and had the opportunity to live and work abroad.

Two journalistic organizations - the International Journalists' Programme (IJP) and Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) - joined forces to provide participants with an in-depth and detailed insight into topics related to climate protection. 

The fellowship holders spent six to eight weeks in one of the host countries. During this time, they got to know the country better, established contacts with local journalists, and deepened their knowledge of the topic. As part of the project, they were placed in local media companies where they were integrated into the daily workflow. They also had the opportunity to work on their own journalistic projects and to report on climate and energy topics for media in their respective home countries. 

Following this exchange, the participants remained in contact through the IJP Alumni Network, which supported them in building a network of journalistic experts.

• Improved skills of multipliers: The project awarded 74 scholarships to journalists from ten European countries. Over 90% of participants confirmed that they had significantly improved their skills in cross-border reporting and their expertise on climate and energy issues. The project thus strengthens qualified, well-founded media reporting on key issues of the energy transition in Central and Eastern Europe and increases the visibility of fact-based climate journalism in the region.
• High-profile work: The funded journalists published over 450 articles, videos and other contributions on climate and energy issues. In doing so, they reached a broad European public and made a significant contribution to making energy and climate issues visible, understandable and socially relevant. The high number of published articles shows the direct impact of the project on stronger and continuous climate communication in Europe.
• Knowledge, dialogue and international networking: A total of 14 events promoted professional development and regional and international networking among the fellows. These included a Global Fellows Night with 80 participants, a research trip with media dialogue in Poland and twelve other formats in digital and face-to-face form. These activities strengthened professional exchange in the long term, created a sustainable journalistic network and supported permanently networked climate reporting in Europe.