Recognizing that the climate crisis presents challenges for journalists due to its complex, cross-cutting, and multidisciplinary nature, the project aimed to contribute to the development of essential skills and climate literacy among young journalists while they are still in Higher Education level.
The project’s exchange began with visits from two teams of professors and students from each university to their partner institution. The Portuguese team, composed of three teachers and two journalism students from ESCS, traveled to Oslo in February 2024, while four Norwegian professors and two students visited Lisbon in March. This collaboration allowed for the exchange of valuable knowledge and experiences for all involved.
During the week of visits, one of the key activities of the project was the masterclasses led by professors from both ESCS and OsloMet. These masterclasses aimed to deepen participants’ knowledge and foster cultural exchanges centered around climate journalism. For the students, this experience provided an opportunity to expand their professional skills and gain a global perspective on journalistic coverage of the climate crisis.
Throughout their fieldwork in Oslo and Lisbon, students conducted research and interviews on climate-related issues relevant to both countries, producing news stories that became tangible outcomes of the project. A multimedia story by the Portuguese students Gabriel Miraldo and Maria Maia on environmental and social sustainability in Oslo was published at AZUL, Público’s newspaper desk on the environment, sustainability and the climate crisis.
In March, during Oslo team’s visit to Lisbon, one of this bilateral project’s milestones was the Climate Journalism Seminar, held at ESCS, an event that brought together more than 80 people from journalists to researchers, academics and students, addressing the evolution of climate journalism and the challenges it poses to teachers, journalism students and professionals in the field.
As a final outcome, the project led to the creation of a Handbook on Climate Journalism for Students, a guide aimed at higher education students in journalism. This guide (that will be available in English, Portuguese, and Norwegian) seeks to equip students with the kick-off tools, strategies, and essential knowledge for a first dive into the journalistic coverage of environmental and climate issues, strengthening climate literacy in a comprehensive way beyond Portugal and Norway.
The project also coincided with the introduction of Portugal’s first Climate Journalism curricular unit in a Journalism course, launched by ESCS in February 2024. The Handbook and the masterclasses held throughout the year played a crucial role in consolidating this new academic offer, with knowledge sharing among faculty helping to enrich the curriculum content.
Through this project, Portugal and Norway took an important step in training journalists who are better prepared to face the climate crisis, equipping them with the skills necessary to cover one of today’s greatest challenges.