Climate Arena 2024

Participatory and deliberative democracy processes are becoming common among European cities. Also, the European Union invites all citizens to take active part in political decisions. However, effective media coverage of these initiatives is far from being achieved. How can we bring them to the center of media attention? What can these assemblies do to grab a journalist's attention and what can journalists learn from these processes?
There is a general consensus on the efficacy of these participatory initiatives in terms of citizens' engagement and collaboration, but how could they become part of the public debate through media coverage so we can change climate policies on the local level?
Starting from the experiences of the Climate Citizens’ Assemblies in Bologna and Brussels, the session is intended to be an interactive and open discussion.
Take your seat in the fish-bowl and bring your ideas!

Not a single European government currently pursues a climate policy compatible with the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global temperature rise below 1.5 ºC by 2100. Yet, many European countries continue to present themselves as pioneers in climate protection.

In this session, we will cover methodologies that allow us to scrutinise and fact-check governmental claims about climate action. We will learn how to systematically investigate climate policies, and the governance systems they seek to influence. The speakers will present their methodologies for you to take home, and use in your next investigation. Speakers and participants will also discuss lessons-learned and challenges from developing, testing and sharing research methodologies.

The session will cover:

1. Introduction to two methodologies for investigating climate policies and governance systems:

• The Climate Policy Gap, which aims to help us reveal the divide between governments' climate pledges and what they are actually doing, and quantify the under-reaction between diagnosis and government action;
• Follow the Governance (FTG), which aims to help us research and map, in a structured way, ownership of resources and infrastructure, actors and responsibilities, norms and established practices, and decision-making processes related to a given field or activity.

2. Suggestions and tips on applying these two methodologies for your own research

3. Discussion on developing, applying and sharing research methodologies, based on the examples presented in the session.

This is our (recurring) roundtable to bring together journalists from South and Eastern Europe so we can talk about challenges we face reporting on the climate and the environment, as well as share strategies, tactics, methods and tips for reporting on the climate in tough regions. This is a space to have an honest peer-to-peer discussion on what works and what doesn't in regions where the media landscape is already problematic and the audience might need to be engaged with differently.

You don't need to be from Southern or Eastern Europe to join — come to share your experiences from your country, let's hear and learn from each other.

During the climate crisis, we need journalism that brings us forward. But whether writing stories about individuals or investigations about companies, climate journalism should remain critical and find the right balance between motivating the audiences and criticising the culprits.

Living in a tiny house means less material baggage but also less space. Taking the night train means more adventure, but also a slower trip. Carbon offsets projects can help to balance emissions from hard-to-decarbonise industries, but what if they cause unexpected consequences? Regardless of whether we are reporting on private involvement or on companies - we gain nothing if we paint the situation too positively.

In this roundtable, we share experiences and perspectives on the risks of constructive reporting to be turned into “feel-good stories”, greenwashing or advertising, and how to critically engage sources when researching climate solutions.

Come to this session with your own experiences and “solutions” dilemmas, and let’s discuss them together.

During this session, participants will learn about the basics of scrollytelling: structure, usage, best cases. Scrollytelling articles are popular, gets more readers, shared more, and win awards. The most popular of these types of stories feature dynamic maps, helping to tell a story with geographical data. This session aims to make this process easy to learn.  

By the end of the session, all participants will have an understanding of the structure of Mapbox-based scrollytelling wireframe, with basic animations and interactivity.

NOTE: Participants should have a basic understanding of HTML structure; know what a geojson file is, and love maps. You will need a Mapbox profile (free registration); code editor of choice (eg Sublime Text), and possibly QGIS.

In response to the growing need for reliable climate information, this informal roundtable will bring together fact-checking communities from across Europe to connect and build trust. Representatives from five fact-checking organisations will share their insights, experiences, and challenges in not only combating climate misinformation in their day to day work but also finding their rightful place within the larger media ecosystem in Europe.

We want this roundtable to also be an opportunity to assess the needs of European climate fact-checkers and explore ways to enhance collaborations across borders.

This roundtable is open to all who'd like to learn more about the state of the art for climate fact-checking and share all lessons learned, good and bad, as well as best practices. We will keep the session informal and relaxed, and encourage unfiltered exchange of ideas.