13.04.2021

The project strengthens knowledge-based journalism and the capacities of communication/media centres, freelancers, and multipliers, located in both EU and ENP countries, in reliable, professional and data-driven reporting. The project is implemented through educational activities delivered by the Natolin Campus of the College of Europe in Poland. The two-year project ran from 2018-2019 with a budget of EUR 830,000.

The project covers countries from both the ENP East and South regions and the European Union.

The objectives of the project are to: deepen knowledge of the EU neighbourhood region and its historical, cultural and environmental backgrounds, as well as of EU institutions and EU-ENP relations and the state of the media; accompany journalists in translating theoretical knowledge into practical stories through workshops (accompanied by study visits and field trainings) and followed up by country-based assignments; and develop a network of journalists allowing the exchange of expert knowhow between EU and ENP journalists and experts.

Activities included: Media market analysis on the two ENP regions and the EU; Digital component: set of short on-line knowledge-based courses looking into topics related to the media market and journalism, including regional studies or the historical, cultural or environmental backgrounds of selected ENP regions. The courses are open to all who apply and include several e-learning modules. They are also designed to prepare participants for the subsequent professional skills workshops; Workshops organised by the College of Europe in Natolin: the project will conduct five sets of courses. Each training will last approximately five days and consist of two parts: an intensive workshop in Poland, followed by an offsite training (study visit/field training in ENP or EU countries); Follow up assignments: contest/competition conducted by the participants of workshops in their home countries once the workshops have come to a conclusion. These sub-projects aim to evaluate participants’ journalistic activity following the training (i.e. writing exercises, investigative journalism, data journalism, and more in depth research efforts); Developing a network of journalists, to exchange expert knowhow between EU and ENP journalists and other media market stakeholders (on-line media forum, final conference, after-project publications and journalism manual).