Are you a Berlin-based journalist, OSINT investigator, researcher or activist eager to learn and expand your satellite imagery toolkits and methods to track climate influence using OSINT tools? Sign up to join this one-day in-person event in Berlin on 27 May to meet experts in the field and to network with like-minded peers! ** Sign up by 17 May 2026. ** Please note that while attendance is free, we cannot provide any travel/accommodation expenses.
Deadline to sign up: 17 May 2026
Please note that while attendance is free, we cannot provide any travel/accommodation expenses, hence the local aspect of this call. Also note that attendance is mandatory for accepted participants to all sessions.
Event details
This is a one-day event hosted by Tactical Tech’s “Exposing the Invisible” project in Berlin, Germany, on 27 May 2026, in the framework of the EU-funded Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI). It will include interactive sessions and talks with invited experts on satellite technology for journalism, and climate influence investigation techniques using open source intelligence tools. There will be opportunities to exchange knowledge and to network with fellow participants.
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Date: 27 May 2026
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Time: 09:30 CEST – 17:30 CEST
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Location: Berlin, Publix
Who can join
Participants profile:
- This event is strictly aimed at: journalists, OSINT investigators, investigative artists, researchers and activists with an investigative profile who are based in Berlin or surroundings (for ease-of-travel reasons – please note we cannot fund any travel or accommodation in Berlin).
Attendance:
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Only selected participants who sign up by filling up the questionnaire below, and receive an attendance confirmation from us.
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Please note that while attendance is free, we cannot provide any travel/accommodation expenses, hence the local aspect of this call. Also note that attendance is mandatory for accepted participants to all sessions. Please be open about any challenges this might pose to your other activities.
Topics and speakers
"The Orbital Workbench: Reclaiming the View from Above"
- with Michael Anthony and Anton Chaika from vertical52
While satellite technology originated as a tool of military-sovereign control—and continues to be a primary asset in modern conflict, Vertical52 is working to pivot that power back toward the public interest. We believe that the ability to see and verify from space should not be a monopoly of the state, but a fundamental resource for journalists, NGOs, and civil society.
In this session, Michael Anthony (Co-founder, vertical52) and Anton Chaika (Senior Analyst, vertical52) take you behind the scenes of their investigative workbench. We will explore how to move beyond simple imagery to analyze the "hidden signals" of our planet—from detecting the heat signatures of industrial activity to using radar to "see" through clouds and track physical changes in contested landscapes. The lecture (1:45) will address both the immense investigative potential of these signals and the hard technical limits of the medium. We will also discuss vertical52’s mission to launch a dedicated satellite constellation for journalism, ensuring that independent observers have their own unmediated access to orbital data.
As part of this segment of the event, 45 minutes will be dedicated to an individual helpdesk. Whether you are an activist documenting land use or a journalist investigating an opaque event, we invite you to bring your own topics to the table. During the talk, we will display a QR code where you can submit your specific story requests. This allows you to meet directly with our analysts to discuss how satellite intelligence can be practically applied to your work.
Speakers:
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Michael Anthony, Co-founder, vertical52 | Michael is a social entrepreneur and former journalist who reported from conflict zones before founding journalists.network. He has spent years bridging the gap between complex technology and social impact, previously pioneering satellite-based insurance for smallholder farmers as part of a public-private partnership with the development sector. At vertical52, he focuses on democratizing orbital intelligence for investigative storytelling and environmental justice.
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Anton Chaika, Senior Analyst, vertical52 | Anton is a Remote Sensing specialist with a primary focus on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and machine learning. He specializes in using radar signals to bypass atmospheric interference and cloud cover, providing consistent monitoring of inaccessible regions. With expertise in cloud-based computation and pattern recognition, Anton has contributed to peer-reviewed research funded by prestigious government grants. At vertical52, he leads the technical analysis of complex geospatial datasets to transform raw orbital signals into verifiable evidence for the public interest.
"Investigating Digital Influence: Inside Tools and Methods from Climate Reporting"
- with Joey Grostern from DeSmog
How can we find out who is behind a digital trend and what their motivations might be? This sessions explores the tools and methods used by DeSmog to conduct online investigation into the "who?", "how?" and "why?" of climate disinformation and influence online. Drawing on the methods used for DeSmog's award-winning climate reporting, it offers a practical look at how journalists and investigators can make sense of complex digital environments.
Speaker:
- Joey Grostern journalist and database lead, DeSmog | Joey Grostern is a Berlin-based journalist and database lead at DeSmog, a leading investigative media outlet exposing climate disinformation, climate science denial, and corporate greenwashing. At DeSmog, Joey has focussed on exposing and documenting the digital influence operations of polluting industries and their political proxies. Alongside award-winning investigations, DeSmog also hosts a series of databases profiling key actors that pollute the climate information space.
NOTE: The detailed agenda will be provided to confirmed participants.
How to join
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Fill out the questionnaire below in detail, and please note that we will only be able to allocate places to the applicants who meet the "Participants Profile" criteria below.
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Using AI when you apply? — For full transparency, please disclose if you are using AI tools to structure and write your application responses.
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Sign up Questionnaire: https://lime.ttc.io/index.php/72427?lang=en
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Deadline: 17 May 2026
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Participants profile: this event is strictly aimed at: journalists, OSINT investigators, investigative artists, researchers and activists with an investigative profile who are based in Berlin or surroundings (for ease-of-travel reasons – please note we cannot fund any travel or accommodation in Berlin).
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Attendance: only selected participants who sign up by filling up the questionnaire - and receive an attendance confirmation from us - can join.
Contact
You can reach out to us with questions about this event by writing to: eti@tacticaltech.org
About us
Tactical Tech is a creative international NGO with 21 years of experience dedicated to investigating and mitigating the profound impact of technology on our societies. We work with investigators and educators to enable evidence-driven decisions & actions.
This event is organised in the framework of the EU-funded Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI). CIJI aims to equip independent media outlets and individual journalists with resources, innovative networking infrastructure and standards-based methods that enable them to practice high-quality, and ethical and accountable collaborative and investigative journalism. More at: https://www.ciji.info/
Disclaimer:
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.