EJN Awards 10 New Story Grants and Selects 43 Journalists to Attend Virtual Media Workshop on Coastal Resilience
Currently, around 40% of the world's population lives within 100 kilometers of a coast, putting them on the frontlines of climate change’s worst impacts – yet information about climate adaptation and resilience is often out of reach.
To fill this gap, EJN embarked on a two-year project with support from the Kingfisher Foundation to provide funding and mentorship to journalists and media outlets worldwide to increase coverage and understanding of coastal resilience issues.
Now in the second year of the project, we are awarding 10 story grants to journalists from around the world, selected from more than 150 applications based on the strength of their proposals:
- Ruth Kadide Keah and Salome Kitomari, Kenya and Tanzania
- Patricia Batista Figueiredo, Brazil
- Michelle Estefany Recinos Juarez, El Salvador
- Manuel Alejandro Castro Flores, Mexico
- Meenakshi Kapoor, India
- Sicha Rungrojtanakul, Thailand
- Andrei Mihai, Romania
- Maria Elorza Saralegui and Helena Rodriguez Gomez, Netherlands
- Frankie Adkins, United Kingdom
- Melissa Godin, France
These journalists will be reporting on a wide variety of issues: how seaweed farming is empowering women in Kenya and Tanzania, how native oysters can act as unique ecosystem engineers and contribute to ocean protection in the UK; efforts to restore carbon-capturing salt marshlands in Spain; and community-led coral reef restoration in the Mesoamerican Reef, among several others.
To help journalists delve deeper into coastal resilience issues and improve their reporting on this topic, EJN is also hosting a three-day virtual workshop on May 2, 3 and 4 as part of the project.
The training will introduce journalists to key coastal resilience topics and connect them with relevant experts and sources for their reporting. Each day will focus on a different theme: solutions, finance and storytelling, with experts planning to discuss nature-based solutions, urban planning, climate finance, true cost accounting, financial instruments, solutions journalism, pitching coastal stories, building story angles and more.
The 43 journalists selected to attend are:
- William Otieno Abala, Kenya
- Evelyn Makena Gatobu, Kenya
- Chemtai Kirui, Kenya
- Jackson Okata, Kenya
- Halili Letea, Tanzania
- Caterina Morbiato, Mexico
- Ana Carla Bermúdez, Uruguay
- Sally Jabiel, Peru
- Emerson Mendoza Ayala, Spain
- Jonas Nyabor, Ghana
- Sampson G. David, Liberia
- Chinedum Uwaegbulam, Nigeria
- Vivian Chime, Nigeria
- Ekpali Saint, Nigeria
- Ngwa Keziah Fela, Cameroon
- SUY Kahofi Jischvi, Cote d’Ivoire
- Louis David Casimir, Mauritius
- Jéssica Martins Silva, Brazil
- Natália Martins Flores, Brazil
- Victor dos Santos Moura, Brazil
- Jason Jaacks, United States
- Jordan Gass-Poore, United States
- Gaia Lamperti, United Kingdom
- Lee Kwai Han, Malaysia
- Sarjan Lahay, Indonesia
- Sicha Rungrojtanakul, Thailand
- Van Nguyen, Vietnam
- Cooper Williams, Australia
- Yasmine Wright Gittens, Australia
- Vinna Wingur, Papua New Guinea
- Krixia Subingsubing, Philippines
- Beatrice Puente, Philippines
- Procopio Resabal Jr., Philippines
- Irwin Angiki, Solomon Islands
- Shahenoor Akther Urmi, Bangladesh
- Ummay Marzan Jui, Bangladesh
- Pimple Barua, Bangladesh
- Mridula Chari, India
- Gowthami Subramaniam, India
- Rina Mukherji, India
- Saleem Shaikh, Pakistan
- Sandranathan Rubatheesan, Sri Lanka
- Malaka Rodrigo, Sri Lanka
“Coastal resilience remains an urgent need for communities living on the edge, yet many lack the information and resources to achieve it,” said Hannah Bernstein, EJN’s project manager for Covering Coastal Resilience. “We’re excited to support journalists from coastal countries through funding and in-depth training to ensure they have the resources they need to provide solutions-focused, evidence-based journalism in their communities.”
Look out for new stories and updates from the project on the EJN website in upcoming months.
Banner image: To restore coastal resilience in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, scientists have reintroduced freshwater mussels to the Delaware Estuary and are monitoring the health of living shorelines and wetlands in the region / Credit: LeeAnn Haaf for the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary via Flickr.
