Deadline: November 26, 2025
Applications are open for the EJN Virtual Media Workshop 2026 to Strengthen Reporting on Environmental Threats and Solutions in the Western Balkans. EJN is hosting a two-day virtual media workshop from 28-29 January 2026 for journalists in the Western Balkans interested in reporting on environmental threats and solutions.
This workshop will offer journalists an introduction to biodiversity and its role in our world. The sessions will be structured as part-presentation and part-discussion. Participants will learn from media trainers, researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations and local communities working on biodiversity issues.
Following the workshop, they will be awarding funds for stories on this topic, with attendees at the workshop receiving special consideration. Journalists who participate can expect to:
- Gain a better understanding of the definition and role of biodiversity and nature in the world around us
- Understand solutions to better protect biodiversity – from national policies to grassroots initiatives
- Learn about journalistic techniques to improve audience engagement with biodiversity
- Gain a better understanding of where to find data, sources and tools for biodiversity stories
- Receive a certificate of completion from EJN for attending both days of the workshop
After the training, they expect that the journalists will be better equipped to inform audiences of the grave risks to the region’s biodiversity as well as the innovative responses to safeguard it.
Themes
The workshop will cover topics such as:
- What is biodiversity and how do we measure it? What is an ecosystem and what services do ecosystems provide to communities?
- The links between biodiversity, climate change and human health
- Biodiversity-related policies at the international and regional levels, from the Ramsar Convention to EU accession regulations and requirements
- What is conservation? Examples of successful conservation instruments, such as protected areas and nature-based solutions
- Biodiversity credits or biodiversity offsets
- The use of technologies such as satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to track threats to biodiversity and monitor biodiversity protection measures
The final agenda of the workshop will be shared with selected participants in December 2025.
Grant
- EJN will award 10-12 grants to journalists to support in-depth reporting on the different threats to biodiversity and innovative and scalable solutions to protect and conserve ecosystems. The grant can fund travel costs, reporter stipends, multimedia elements and more. Besides funding, grantees will receive 1-1 editorial mentorship from a senior journalist mentor.
Eligibility
- Applicants can be from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.
- For the purposes of this training opportunity, they will accept applications in English only. Unfortunately, they do not have the capacity to consider applications in other languages at this time. Applicants must have a working understanding of English to participate in and fully benefit from the workshop.
- Applications are open to journalists working in any medium (online, print, television, radio) and other media practitioners with experience covering nature and biodiversity issues.
- They welcome applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations – community-based, local, national, and international. They especially encourage women, rural, and early-career journalists to apply.
- Applicants are required to be transparent about the use of generative AI tools, if any, to revise their proposals. EJN reserves the right to disqualify applicants from consideration if they have been found to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct, including, but not limited to, submitting AI-generated content as their own.
Application
For more information, visit EJN Virtual Media Workshop.
