Environmental Investigators: A Citizen Journalism Fellowship

There is not a single community in Europe that is not affected by environmental matters that need investigating. In urban areas the quality of air might be one of the biggest concerns, while for those citizens living by the sea pollution of the seaside might be the most problematic matter. While many journalists are covering environmental issues, professional resources will always be limited to cover a topic that virtually affects all citizens in the continent.

How can journalists collaborate with citizens to expand and improve environmental investigations? The project Environmental Investigators: A Citizen Journalism Fellowship aims to bridge the gap between journalists and communities by training reporters to work with citizen investigators.

The fellows for this programme have now been selected: Julien De Bundel, Belgium; Natalie Donback, Sweden/Spain; Peter Yeung, France; Francesca Polizzi, Italy.

• Timeline 

- May 2025: The start of fellowship programme & training sessions.

- May–September 2025: Mentoring & collaborative investigations.

- December 2025: Publication of final investigations.  

• Target group

Environmental journalists based in Europe— whether local or national—who are ready to explore new ways of engaging audiences in investigative work. They should currently be working in an editorial capacity at a European newsroom and have an environmental topic in mind that could involve community collaboration.  

• Deadline for applications to be a fellow closed on 28 February 2025
• Coordinators / Mentors

Neus Vidal Marti. Executive Director, Seek Initiative

Neus is a journalist and political scientist who specialises in access to information and media policies. She has worked as an investigative reporter and as a programme manager in several countries. Before joining the Seek Initiative, she was in charge of monitoring violations of media freedom at the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. She has taught journalism at several universities and is currently on the Advisory Board of the rule of law programme Re:constitution. She will be in charge of overseeing the project, coordinating the selection process, delivering training and coordinating final publications with fellows and newsrooms.  

Jim Mintz

Jim has spent his life conducting investigations and training investigators. He began as an investigative reporter. For more than 15 years, he has been an adjunct professor of investigative reporting at the Columbia Journalism School. He is retired from Mintz Group, a global investigation company he founded in 1994. He will be mentoring fellows to ensure their proposed investigations use the best available techniques.  

Illustration (c) Handi Berty via Pexels