[Closed] Call for Participants | Digital Investigation Residency | 18-22 November | Berlin, Germany | Application deadline: 30 August 2024

Join our in-person "Digital Investigation Residency" in Berlin to experience a highly collaborative, week-long event where you will learn, share skills and knowledge, as well as leverage a wide range of innovative methods for your investigation projects! The event will focus on three major topics: “Critical Climates”, “Political Influence” and “AI and Us”.

The Digital Investigation Residency

The Residency will focus on three major topics: “Critical Climates”, “Political Influence” and “AI and Us”.

We welcome experienced investigators who value collaboration, creativity and integrity in uncovering evidence that can address the crises our societies face today. This event will provide space for new collaborations, investigation ideas, and co-creation of immediate outputs (articles, guides, curricula) that will serve as resources for a wider public.

Hosted by Tactical Tech, the Residency will take place on 18-22 November 2024 in Berlin, Germany, at Publix, a new home for local and international investigative journalism organisations that shape the public sphere and strengthen democracy. 

The event is part of the Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI), an EU-funded project carried out in partnership with Tactical Tech, Reporters Without Borders, Free Press Unlimited, Fundacja Reporterów, OBC Transeuropa, and Delfi. CIJI aims to strengthen the collaborative investigations ecosystem through training, learning resources, innovative reporting and networking opportunities.

In a nutshell

• What?  A 5-day in-person Investigation Residency focused on exchanging critical investigation practices, topics, method and tools for those passionate about digital and field investigations and collaborative initiatives to expose the invisible. The Residency will focus on three major topics affecting our societies today: “Critical Climates”, “Political Influence” and “AI and Us”.

• Who? Journalists, fact-checkers, researchers, OSINT investigators, investigative artists, and other members of civil society with experience and passion for investigations in the public interest.

• Why? To share expertise, knowledge, skills and resources around digital and field investigations on key topics affecting our societies today with the aim to form collaborations on new projects and creative ideas.

• When?  18 - 22 November 2024, full days with arrival on 17 November / departure late-22 or on 23 November.

• Where? Berlin, Germany / in-person.

• Application deadline: 30 August 2024 midnight CET (Central European Time).

• Application form: Application closed (Read the entire call and participants’ eligibility details before applying).

• Organizers: Tactical Tech as part of the Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI).

• Costs: Return travel from one of the above-mentioned locations, and local subsistence in Berlin (accommodation, 2 meals/day, local travel, insurance) can be provided by organisers for up to 35 participants from the eligible regions. Participants from other regions who wish to apply will need to secure their own funding if selected.  

What is the Residency about?

The Digital Investigation Residency aims to connect experienced investigators, to facilitate the learning and exchange of innovative investigation skills and techniques, to foster cross-disciplinary and cross-border collaborations, and to launch impactful investigations that address the interlinked crises of today, in a safe and ethical manner.

The Residency will address the increasing need for collaboration and innovative investigation perspectives by providing opportunities for cross-border and cross-disciplinary expertise and skill-sharing among journalists and other public-interest investigators. It will create a safe space where participants can gather, learn from one another, and formulate projects that can be developed after the Residency. It will place special focus on investigating timely topics including Artificial Intelligence, climate change, misinformation, displacement, political influence and digital rights.

Residency Topics and Streams

These topics will shape the main working streams of the event. Participants will be asked to indicate their topic of expertise/interest and join the respective stream during the Residency.

Consider applying if you have skills, experience and interest in investigating within the three major topics:

Critical Climates

• Access to Water — conventional and unconventional approaches and methods to investigate water access inequalities and water pollution, corporate water ‘grabbing’, methods to engage affected communities and creative ways of storytelling to reach wider audiences.

• Warfare and Climate — coordinated, methodical and collaborative documentation and investigation of the effects of warfare on our climate – from conflict-related emissions and ecosystems damage to ecocide.

• Climate Migration — unasked / unexplored questions connecting climate change (in)adaptation to displacement and migration; innovative methods to investigate and raise awareness on climate migration; identifying the key stakeholders and areas where change is needed.

• Deep Sea Mining — from corporate and state interests in exploring and exploiting underwater resources within non-transparent regulatory frameworks, to investigating and storytelling about current and future environmental impacts of deep-sea mining on marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

Political Influence

• Election Campaign Finance — investigating spending and campaign finance and their impact on electoral outcomes.

• Data and Surveillance in Political Campaigns — analyzing the use of data analytics and surveillance technologies in political campaigns; investigating ethical and privacy concerns related to voter data; the role of AI and big data in predicting and influencing voter behavior.

• Finding Stories in Political Influence Data — methods to identify issues driving or being driven by political campaigns and voter targeting efforts; strategies of reaching diverse audiences with research / investigation results; creative ways to raise public awareness on political influence practices.

• The Influence Industry in Political Campaigns — uncovering the role of companies and private firms in election campaigns and assessing their impact on voter participation, electoral transparency, and democratic norms.

AI and Us

• Financing of AI — investigating who funds and drives AI advances in certain fields, and to whose advantage.

• Colonial influence on AI — understanding biases in AI training data and in AI-generated content and identifying alternatives.

• AI and the Environment — researching the environmental costs and impacts of AI, creating and testing investigation methods that can lead to evidence, informed decisions and policies.

• AI and Mis/Disinformation — the role of AI in identifying mis/disinformation and its role in creating it.

• Investigating through AI — identifying, testing and sharing AI tools and methods that can help investigators to expose wrongdoing and to make investigation results more accessible to the public.

All topic streams and related sessions will incorporate safety, ethics, evidence collection and verification methods, data sources and research tools.

What will we do?

[In addition to offering workshops, skill-sharing and networking opportunities, the Residency will enable collaboration among participants to produce a series of guides, articles and workshop curricula on the use of technology and investigative methods to address the current-day crises along the above-mentioned topics. We will use various activity formats to share, learn and create:

• Plenary Sessions — bringing together all participants for shared presentations, discussions, and keynote talks, fostering a collective learning experience and setting the stage for collaborative efforts.

• Thematic Workshops — led by invited experts, delve into specific topics relevant to the Residency's three streams, providing in-depth knowledge and hands-on training tailored to the participants' investigative interests.

• Skill-sharing Sessions by Participants - involving participants to present and share their unique skills and expertise with the group, facilitating peer-to-peer learning and cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange.

• Co-creation / Collaborative Sessions — where participants from each topic stream collaborate on investigating common-interest topics and cases, and creating content together.

• Informal Networking Opportunities — in which participants join a variety of informal events such as: film screenings with discussion, visits to locations/events of interest in Berlin, self-organised thematic discussion groups or trips, dinners, etc.

Who is the Residency for?

Apply if you:

• Are a journalist (freelance, affiliated with independent media, journalism networks or NGOs), fact-checker, researcher, OSINT investigator, investigative artist, scientist, etc., with experience and passion for investigations in the public interest.

• Have demonstrated experience with reporting, researching or investigating the themes of Political Influence, Climate or AI.

• Are investigating with a focus on local / regional / cross-border issues and have fewer opportunities to access in-person, cross-border collaborations and skill-sharing events.

• Wish to further develop and diversify your expertise as well as to share your skills and knowledge with like-minded others in a highly collaborative environment.

• Are a resident of one of the regions mentioned in the above eligibility requirements (please note that travel costs can be covered only from one of the above-mentioned locations).

• Are committed to attend for the entire length of the Residency as this is mandatory for accepted participants.

How to apply?

[APPLICATIONS CLOSED]

• Applicants should sign up for one topic (maximum two) and have a proven record of working in areas relevant to those topics.

• Applicants are expected to share examples of their work and an idea / proposal for possible collaboration with other participants, following one of the three indicated Residency topics/streams.

• Please note that the Residency will be held in English. A working level of the language is necessary to ensure overall collaboration and a smooth facilitation of the event.

Selection process

• We aim to bring together a maximum of 50 participants.

• Our team of journalists and researchers from Tactical Tech and CIJI partners will review the applications, balancing experience, skills, diversity, needs and everyone’s ability to both gain from, and contribute to this Residency. 

• Applications will be reviewed and considered on a rolling basis, therefore we encourage you to apply early in the process as funded places might fill up by the deadline.

• We will inform shortlisted applicants by 10 September 2024. We may invite shortlisted applicants for a brief call before taking a final decision. Applicants who did not make it on the shortlist will be informed by 15 September.

Contact

If you have any questions about the Residency and the application process, please contact us at eti@tacticaltech.org

About Us

This event is hosted by Tactical Tech as part of the *Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI).

Tactical Tech is an international NGO that engages with citizens and civil-society organisations to explore and mitigate the impacts of technology on society. 

Illustration by Ann Kiernan

The Digital Investigation Residency is part of the CIJI project co-funded by the European Union. 

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.