Internationale BJS-Programme

Mit zwei zeitgleich stattfindenden Workshops in Armenien und Georgien ist das BJS-Projekt "Power of Data Supporting Women and Environment" knapp zwei Wochen vor Weihnachten in seine finale Phase gekommen. In der armenischen Hauptstadt Yerevan trafen sich 15 NGO-Vertreter/innen in einem zweitägigen Präsenzworkshop, BJS-Projektleiter Clemens Schöll und Referent Michael Hörz waren zugeschaltet. 

Der Workshop in Georgien fand wegen eines erneuten Lockdowns online statt. Deshalb musste der geplante Besuch einer besonders stark umweltbelasteten belasteten Region ausfallen.  Stattdessen übertrug ein Umweltaktivist mit Handycam Bilder aus dem Gebiet in die Videokonferenz mit ebenfalls 15 Teilnehmerinnen. 

Zum Abschluss präsentierten die Teilnehmerinnen verschiedene Fragen, bei den zusammengeführte und visualisierte Daten Aufklärung und Abhilfe versprechen, etwa: Welche Auswirkungen hat das Kochen mit Holz als Brennstoff die auf Gesundheit von Frauen in ländliche Gegenden? Wie beeinflussen die Beratungsgespräche in den georgischen women‘s councils die Verteilung von  Geldern auf kommunaler Ebene? Warum sterben mehr Frauen bei Naturkatastrophen?

Beide Workshops wurden maßgeblich von Trainerinnen gestaltet, die Anfang September an einem Online-Workshop der BJS für zivilgesellschaftliche Akteurinnen aus Armenien, Aserbaidschan, Georgien und der Ukraine teilgenommen hatten, unterstützt vom Auswärtigen Amt (AA) im Rahmen von #CivilSocietyCooperation. Partner vor Ort waren "Journalists for the Future" (JFF) in Armenien und das Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). 

Bereits vor einigen Wochen nahmen rund 25 NGO-Vertreter/innen aus der Ukraine an einem gemeinsam mit unserem ukrainischen Partner Donetsk Institute of Information (DII) veranstalteten Online-Workshop teil.

"Power of Data Supporting Women and Environment" ist das vierte BJS-Projekt im Rahmen des AA-Programms „Ausbau der Zusammenarbeit mit der Zivilgesellschaft in den Ländern der Östlichen Partnerschaft“.

Wer erfasst in meinem Land welche Daten? Wie reagiere ich, wenn die Institution nicht herausgibt? Wie kann ich Informationen aus PDF-Dokumenten auslesen? Und mit welchen Grafiken stelle ich die so gewonnenen Erkenntnisse anschaulich dar? Mit solchen Fragen beschäftigten sich neun zivilgesellschaftliche Akteurinnen aus Armenien, Aserbaidschan, Georgien und der Ukraine bei unserem Online-Seminar "Power of Data Supporting Women and Environment" vom 31. August bis 6. September. 

Grundidee des im Rahmen von #CivilSocietyCooperation geförderten Programms  ist die Feststellung, dass der

Aus dem geplanten Präsenztreffen in der BJS wurde aufgrund der Coronalage ein Onlineseminar

Zugang zu Daten eine zentrale Voraussetzung für politische Teilhabe ist. In den ÖP-Ländern fehlt der Zivilgesellschaft (z.B. Vereinen, Stiftungen, Nichtregierungsorganisationen, Initiativen) jedoch häufig das Know-how, solche Daten zu finden, zu verknüpfen und gut verständlich aufzubereiten. Zudem gibt es häufig administrative Hindernisse. 

Die Teilnehmerinnen arbeiten in ihren jeweiligen Ländern zu zwei Themen, die dort zunehmend Aufmerksamkeit erhalten: Frauen-/Genderrechte und Umwelt/Gesundheit. Um sie für diese Arbeit weiter zu stärken, vermitteln wir ihnen über unser Programm in dieser Woche zusätzliches Know-how sowohl beim Umgang mit Daten als auch bei der Organisation von Workshops. 

Diese Fähigkeiten werden sie in einem zweiten Schritt in Workshops in Armenien, Georgien und der Ukraine an Teilnehmer/innen ausnstitute of Informa der Zivilgesellschaft der jeweiligen Länder weitergeben. Organisieren werden die Veranstaltungen dort von unserem Partner, "Journalists for the Future" (JFF) aus Armenien, dem Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) und dem Donetsk Ition (DII) aus der Ukraine. 

Es ist das vierte Projekt der BJS mit dem Auswärtigen Amt im Rahmen des Programms „Ausbau der Zusammenarbeit mit der Zivilgesellschaft in den Ländern der Östlichen Partnerschaft“.

 You are a journalist from Armenia and Georgia. You are interested in and working on the relations between those two countries. You have a good knowledge of economics. You want to strengthen the relations between your home country and its neighbour, especially now that they are in different economic blocs. And you would love to discuss all those issues with colleagues and top-experts during a seminar in Berlin.

If you find yourself in this description, you are the perfect candidate for our multi-level project “Overcoming divisions through exchange and research”. 

It is organized by Berlin Journalism School and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office as part of its program “Strengthening cooperation with civil society in the Eastern Partnership countries”.

In the first part, most likely being held from September 14-18, eight journalists – four each from Georgia and Armenia - will come to a seminar at Berlin Journalism School in Berlin. Here they will enjoy lectures on and discussions about the EU economic policy in the area of the EaP countries. 

They will also be able to contribute examples from their own reporting. The participants will meet German colleagues with a professional focus on the EU, EaP and EEU, visit an editorial office and have talks with a representative of the Federal Foreign Office or the Federal Ministry of Economics. Finally, the seminar offers the opportunity to discuss topics for joint journalistic cross-border articles.

A few weeks later, the Armenian and Georgian participants will meet again for two days in Yerevan. In Armenia’s Capital they will meet experts from both countries and discuss the EEU strategies and their implications for Armenia's relations with its neighbouring countries, especially with Georgia.

With the impressions and the facts they gained in these discussions the participants will visit a border town in the respective other country for two days of research. Focuses will be the development of border trade, possible problems and people's concerns when looking at their neighbouring country.

Finally, they will join a three-day summer workshop, most likely in Haghpat, with 20 NGO representatives from Armenia and Georgia. The journalists will help the NGOs to understand how they and their projects can get attention of the media. At the same time they will also write about border-crossing projects which the NGOs have developed.

Travel expenses, accommodation and costs for visa (if necessary) will be covered. 

For the cross-border research a small remuneration will be paid.

Who can apply?

English-speaking journalists of all ages – employees or freelancers – who are interested in Armenian-Georgian relations and have proven experience in economic reporting.

What do we need from you? 

·      A cover letter in which you describe both your professional background and the reasons for your application. 

·      An idea for journalistic cross-border story you would like to work on with a colleague from your neighboring country. 

·      Detailed curriculum vitae.

·      If possible a proof of your knowledge of English.

Send these documents only via e-mail (pdf, in total not more than 5 MB) to 

crossborder@berliner-journalisten-schule.de not later than 26 July, 2020. 

Please send only certificates and recommendations if they have a direct connection to your applications, e.g. a prove showing experience as a trainer or international cooperation, but no certificates from university.

Covid-19 information: Due to a dynamic situation, we cannot predict the pandemic situation by in September in Germany as well as in Armenia and Georgia in October. Therefore, we do not exclude the possibility of changing the format of the seminar/workshops to hybrid (online/offline) or fully online. We will communicate all possible changes with you and promise to make everything possible to maintain your safety and health.

This project is run and organized by Berlin Journalism School in cooperation with "Journalists for the Future" NGO (JFF).

If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact Clemens Schöll, head of the program clemens.schoell@berliner-journalisten-schule.de.

You want to use techniques of datajournalism to work most effectively for a better environment or for women’s/gender rights in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova or Ukraine? Then apply for our intense program on data journalism in these fields. The training is organized by Berlin Journalism School and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office as part of its program “strengthening cooperation with civil society in the Eastern Partnership countries”. It will strengthen you ability to aggregate, prepare and present data in an understandable and convincing way. And you will learn teaching skills that enable you to pass your knowledge on to other NGOs. The training in Berlin be followed by three workshops in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine, organized by our partners in those countries, where you will work as trainers.

In the first part, most likely from September 1st - 6th, nine civil society actors from all countries of the Eastern Partnership will learn in-depth data-journalism. The focuses will be:

• Women's and gender rights: Many inequalities, disadvantages or discrimination can be proven and substantiated by data. Whether its the gender pay gap, domestic violence, women in leadership positions or other aspects.
• Environment and health: competently prepared data can also be used to substantiate and communicate health threats, accumulations of serious illnesses and even deaths caused by environmental pollution. Using facts like data makes information credible and convincing.

The training at BJS is supported by visits of Institutions working with data: Editorial offices, NGOs, a public authority, state institution etc. Finally the trainers will develop a concept for the three workshops as well as the role they will take in it.

Travel expenses accommodation and costs for visa (if necessary) will be covered. For the teaching at the workshops a remuneration will be paid.

Who can apply?

English-speaking NGO members/staff/trainers of all ages – employees or freelancers – with proven experience in the field of women/gender or environment from one of the mentioned countries. Basic skills and proven experience in working with data is essential.

What do we need from you?

• A cover letter in which you describe both your professional background (including experience in giving trainings) and the reasons for your application.
• Documents supporting your previous data-experience in the above mentioned topics. It can be websites, articles about previous projects and/or references from your NGO or previous employers. If you hand in documents/links in languages other than English, please add a short English summary. Please also indicate how many persons you could reach in future with your newly acquired skills.
• Detailed curriculum vitae.
• If possible a proof of your knowledge of English.

Send these documents only via e-mail (pdf, in total not more than 5 MB) to datajournalism@berliner-journalisten-schule.de not later than July 26th, 2020.

Please send only certificates and recommendations if they have a direct connection to your applications, e.g. a prove showing experience as a trainer or international cooperation, but no certificates from university.

Covid-19 information: Due to a dynamic situation, we cannot predict the pandemic situation by mid/end of August in Germany as well as the different EaP countries. Therefore, we do not exclude the possibility of changing the format of the seminar/workshops to hybrid (online/offline) or fully online. We might also be We will communicate all possible changes with you and promise to make everything possible to maintain your safety and health.

This project is run and organized by Berlin Journalism School in cooperation with "Journalists for the Future" (JFF) from Armenia, the Donetsk Institute of Information (DII) from Ukraine and the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA).

If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact Clemens Schöll, head of the program clemens.schoell@berliner-journalisten-schule.de.

Die Berliner Journalisten-Schule hat bis 2016 insgesamt 13 Jahre lang in Zusammenarbeit mit der Robert-Bosch-Stiftung jungen Journalisten aus Mittel- und Osteuropa die Gelegenheit zu einem Studien- und Redaktionsaufenthalt in Berlin geboten.