Four organisations to deliver Climate Investigations Course (CIC)
With the third year of the Open Climate Reporting Initiative (OCRI) in full swing, the CIJ is working with four partner organisations in Francophone Africa, South Asia, Anglophone Africa and Latin America to deliver it’s new Climate Investigations Course (CIC) as part of activities for OCRI Year 3. After developing the CIC over the past few months, partners will alongside the CIJ organise and deliver story lab training workshops and provide post workshop support & mentoring towards the execution and publication of OCRI-supported projects that are investigative, collaborative and cross-border.
The CIC is CIJ’s new 4-module course made up of 14 sessions that will become part of our scheduled course offerings online from 2025. A region-contextualized and translated version (where applicable) consisting of 10 identified core sessions of the CIC will first be delivered across the four regions during the in-person story lab workshops.
For the Francophone Africa region, the Cell Norbert Zongo for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO) will strengthen the capacities of investigative journalists in French-speaking West and Central Africa on climate change challenges and environmental issues coverage in order to promote a better understanding of the inherent issues by populations and leaders for the benefit of better policies. In addition to activities initially mentioned, CENOZO will also host a Climate Data Forum and an Online Public Lecture to achieve the set objectives.
DataLEADS will support journalists from newsrooms across the region to enhance their skills, tools in reporting on climate change and its impact. Specifically, the programme will onboard journalists from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka – seven countries in South Asia that continue to bear the brunt of climate change with rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, heatwaves, melting ice caps, floods and landslides. Two advocacy webinars that brings together journalists, policymakers, and researchers will be also held on the trends in climate change, reporting on the issue, misinformation, policies and their impact.
To address the dearth of knowledge and the spate of inaction that is still being observed despite increasing media scrutiny, advocacy, and agenda setting, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) will enhance the capacity of the media to report on cross-border climate change issues. It will also hold the government accountable while simultaneously raising public awareness, promoting sustainable practices, fostering public engagement, and supporting the development of policies and strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Nigeria, The Gambia, and Ghana for the Anglophone Africa region.
CONNECTAS known for promoting the exchange of information on key issues for the development of the Americas, will work towards strengthening Latin American journalists’ capacities to understand the climate change phenomenon, and provide them with tools and methodologies to produce high-quality, fact-based investigations, while fighting its associated misinformation and disinformation following the delivery of the CIC.
The CIJ had previously worked with CENOZO, CJID and CONNECTAS during OCRI Year 1 and DataLEADS in Year 2. Alongside regional trainers, CIJ and partners will work towards the successful delivery of the CIC and other activities.