Visualising Desertification: Collaborative Storytelling Across European Festivals

Visualising Desertification: Collaborative Storytelling Across European Festivals builds on a prior initiative which connected 50 professional investigative and photojournalists.

This project includes five participatory workshops at major journalism festivals in 2025, again engaging 50 participants – 25 investigative journalists and 25 photojournalists. 

Each 3-hour workshop includes skill-building, story development, and networking to produce 25 collaborative story drafts on desertification. Post-workshop mentorship refines these into 10 multimedia stories published on platforms like LAT-E. A Digital Toolkit, co-created by participants, will provide resources for environmental journalism, disseminated via IJNET. 

A Signal group ensures long-term networking. The project enhances visual and investigative skills, raises awareness of desertification, and promotes cross-border collaboration.

Timeline:

• June-October 2025: Workshops at European festivals:

- LASAL Festival Barcelona, Spain: Friday 06 June;

- PhotoEspaña, Madrid, Spain: September (final date to be confirmed);

- DIG Festival Modena, Italy: Friday, 26 September

- Internazionale Festival Ferrara, Italy: Friday, 03 October

- Climate Arena Conference, Budapest, Hungary: 10-11 October (to be confirmed)

- October-November 2025: Mentorship, finalisation of the toolkit, publishing stories.

Trainers/Facilitators:

• Bruna Casas (photojournalist, workshop facilitator)
• Cush Munger (journalist, workshop facilitator)