In a partnership between Constructive Institute and the Novo Nordisk Foundation CO₂ Research Center this first cohort of “The Climate Explorer program” will develop journalism approaches that better enlighten and engage audiences to keep the public agenda focused on the global climate transition – without crossing the line to activism.

Many newsrooms struggle to keep the editorial focus on climate change and the global news agenda is easily overcrowded. Doomsday headlines of a protracted crisis lead to passivity, dejection and resignation.  A report by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) warns against “climate catastrophe journalism” which contributes to climate anxiety and causes media users to stop engaging with news stories on the topic.

“Journalism is the most important filter between reality and the public perception of it. But both news media and other democratic institutions globally suffer from serious trust issues. The mission of this project is to inspire the news industry to find best practices to cover climate change in a passionate, trusted, science-based and engaging way”, the founder and CEO of the independent Constructive Institute, Ulrik Haagerup says.

The project lead is Cynara Vetch, who has a background from BBC, Al Jazeera and CCTV and is running the international activities of Constructive Institute out of Nairobi in Kenya. The German professor Alexandra Borchardt, and main author of the climate report from EBU, is appointed co-Director of the Climate Explorer program. She explains why the project is timely:

“There has been plenty of excellent climate journalism out there in the past 30 years– only, it obviously hasn’t had the impact many journalists were hoping for. This is why we need to explore new approaches to bringing the challenge home to people quite literally: why does it matter to them, and what can they do to affect change. This is constructive journalism at its best and most urgent: It needs to explore how to construct a sustainable future for humankind.”

The program has been developed in partnership with The Novo Nordisk Foundation CO₂ Research Center (CORC), who will also fund the pilot program starting early 2024.  With 15 science groups at Aarhus University, University of Copenhagen, and Danish Technical University in Denmark, as well as University of Tübingen in Germany and Stanford University in California, CORC brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers. By joining forces between academia and journalism, CORC and Constructive Institute plan to create a unique project that combines journalistic training and research insights in a new international fellowship program.

Tina Fruelund, Director of Communication at CORC, is excited about the new and unique fellowship program which is created as a contribution to closing the gap between science and journalism:

“Via this partnership, the five Explorers will have the opportunity to work and interact with researchers working on new carbon technologies, allowing them to diversify their skill set and expand their knowledge of the science and innovation needed to build a future, sustainable carbon economy. Moreover, I see an enormous value in the international perspective that the five explorers can bring to the table.“

The Climate Explorer program will run from end of January to the end of June 2024. The five Explorers which all have extensive experience from newsrooms all over the world, will relocate to Aarhus for the five-month fellowship to follow a specifically tailored curriculum of scientific topics related to climate and carbon technologies, as well as receiving an education in constructive journalism at Constructive Institute. At the end of the fellowship program, the Explorers will develop best practice examples of engaging in climate reporting. The findings will among others be presented to the news industry when 1000-1500 publishers and editors meet at the World News Media Congress in Copenhagen in May 2024, and at specific events.

The five Climate Explorer candidates will be announced early in the New Year.

About the Climate Explorer Program:

• The program will run as a pilot for five months.
• The five fellows will relocate to the city of Aarhus, Denmark for the period.
• Constructive Institute at Aarhus University is the host of the fellows and will immerse the five fellows into their existing program as well as tailor a specific curriculum for the climate explorers.
• Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center has funded the project with 2.5 m DKK.

For further info:

Cynara Vetch, Project Lead, Climate Explorer Program: +254725667605

Alexandra Borchardt, co-Director, Climate Explorer Program: +491739255797

Ulrik Haagerup, Founder and CEO, Constructive Institute: +456013860

Tinas Fruelund, Director of Communication, Novo Nordisk Foundation CO₂ Research Center: +4529219632

Read about Constructive Institute and the Climate Explorer program here: https://constructiveinstitute.org