Scholarships on climate and energy issues for journalists: Make three from one
by Anselm Bareis und Oliver Hölcke, GIZ/EUKI
Seit 2017 gibt International Journalist Programmes (IJP) im Rahmen der EUKI-Finanzierung Journalist*innen die Möglichkeit, sich mit Klima- und Energiethemen zu beschäftigen und international zu arbeiten. Aus dem einen Programm „Climate-Energy-Stipendium“ mit fünf Zielländern in Mittel- und Osteuropa wurden im laufenden EUKI-Projekt nun drei Programme. Für diese drei regional fokussierten Stipendien können sich in diesem Sommer Interessierte aus 13 Ländern bewerben. Das EUKI-Projekt hat zum einen das Ziel, die Talente und ihre Geschichten zu fördern, und will gleichzeitig ein Journalist*innen Netzwerk in Europa aufbauen.
New programmes, more opportunities
In order to be able to care for the scholarship holders and their topics even more personally and precisely, IJP has divided the programme into three regional programmes: Rumania, Bulgaria and Serbia are newcomers and the target countries of the program for Southeastern Europe, which is initiated by IJP for the first time. Although not new, Poland is represented with a program of its own also for the first time. Journalists from Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic as well as from the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania could also put in their applications. During their 6-8-week guest stay in Germany or one of the Central and Eastern European countries, the selected scholar-ship holders will get a detailed insight into climate-relevant subjects and can widen their sub-ject-specific knowledge. Their contribution to the work in a guest medium and support they receive for their journalistic work from cooperating partner Clean Energy Wire will help them get networked in the industry and give their stories the final touch.
Almost 100 reports from the programme have already influenced the public debate
A look back at the results achieved so far by the two EUKI projects promises that the expan-sion of the programs will even increase the influence of the reporting about the climate crisis and associated topics. Particularly in the new target countries Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, climate-related subjects, which are especially dealt with by a young generation of journalists, slowly but surely find their way into the public mainstream.
Major successes in the project framework have so far been celebrated in the Czech Republic and Hungary, among others: Alumnus Nagy Gerely, as an example, was awarded a prize in Hungary in 2018 for the best report about energy issues. The SZ-editor Viktoria Großmann, ex-scholarship holder in the Czech Republic, was appointed member of the advisory commit-tee of the German-Czech discussion forum for the years of 2019/2020. In order to ensure that what they have learned is passed on, the journalists promoted by the programs are once a year given the opportunity to network with the alumni of former program participants and ex-perts from the climate and energy sector on the occasion of a „Global Fellows Night“. For-mats, such as the Web seminar series „IJP-Climate Talks“, set up in May or the „Seminar on Constructive Journalism“, promoted by EUKI, are further means of supporting the journalists’ further qualification.
Applications for the South-Eastern European and the Poland programme are possible until August 15, 2020
While the application window for the 2020 German-Central and Eastern European Journalist program is already closed, editors or freelancers working in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria or Serbia in the print, radio, online or TV media still have the opportunity to apply for a funding by August 15. Apart from covering traveling and accommodation costs, IJP offers to gain expe-rience abroad, European networking and intensive professional care for the successful appli-cants. For details about the scholarship and the application itself please refer to IJP’s Website or send a Mail to office@ijp.org. EUKI wishes all participants great success and is looking forward to new, brilliant networking stories to support European climate action.