Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) Media Study Tour Programme 2018 for International Journalists (Funded)

Deadline: May 5, 2018

Clean Energy Wire invites journalists to apply for the Media Study Tour Programme in June 2018. This is a three-day visit that will take international journalists to visit North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s Historic Coal Year to engage with experts and seek answers to some tough questions confronting Germany.

About

Is the world’s largest lignite producer finally facing the dark side of the Energiewende? Long considered to be a clean energy pioneer, what is keeping Germany from following most of its European neighbours in phasing out coal? As coal mines close, how do local communities find new forms of employment and tax revenue? On the Paris pathway of ending fossil fuel extraction, is there a future for the German tradition of trade union-brokered social pacts?

The joint stock-taking exercise will take journalists to North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s industrial heartland and most populous state. During the three-day study tour, they will visit one of the huge opencast lignite mining pits in the Rhineland, see the Ibbenbüren hard coal mine, and get acquainted with local post-coal business projects.

In meetings with leading energy experts, policymakers, corporate leaders, and regional planners, they will seek answers to questions Germany is facing as it confronts the long-neglected ‘dark side of the Energiewende’.

• Long considered to be a clean energy pioneer, what is keeping Germany from following most of its European neighbours in phasing out coal?
• As coal mines close, how do local communities find new forms of employment and tax revenue?
• On the Paris pathway of ending fossil fuel extraction, is there a future for the German tradition of trade union-brokered social pacts

Funding

Participation in the media workshop is free of charge. All expenses incurred during the workshop, including food, accommodation, and transport, will be covered by the Clean Energy Wire.

The following funding options are available for travel (train, coach, or flight) to and from Germany:

• 100 percent reimbursement (limited contingent)
• 60% reimbursement for climate-friendly modes of transport, such as train and coach travel, OR
• 40% reimbursement for air travel.

Please indicate via the application form whether you will cover your own travel expenses, or which of the two reimbursement schemes you are applying for. Also consider carefully whether you may be able to access any additional external sources of funding before choosing 100% reimbursement, as fully funded spaces are very limited and competitive.

Eligibility

• The media workshop is open to international journalists

• with a professional background in energy, environmental, or climate policy journalism
• from countries with major fossil fuel extraction industries

• Presentations during the workshop will be either in English or in German. English-German simultaneous interpretation will be provided where necessary

Application

Get in contact with Programme Officer Ms Eva Freundorfer (eva.freundorfer@cleanenergywire.org).

Please apply by clicking on Sign up in the red bar here