When and where will the conference take place?
The conference will be on 18-19 October 2024 in Bologna, Italy. Our venue is DAMSLab, which belongs to the University of Bologna’s faculty of arts. The address is Piazzetta P. P. Pasolini, 5/b, 40122, Bologna.
What kind of conference is Climate Arena?
Climate Arena is a hands-on, working conference, focused on sharing tools and methods, datasets, insights, and planting the seeds of collaborations, creating the space for building connections and setting up new cross-border projects. It is primarily a journalism conference organised by and for journalists, but we always incorporate scientists and climate researchers into our programme and encourage them to attend.
You can expect a mix of panels, workshops and networking sessions. We are expecting around 200 journalists from around Europe.
Where is the conference programme?
We aim to announce the first version of the programme by early June 2024. To see what kind of sessions and topics we like to feature, you can check out our Prague programme and Vienna programme.
How can I register to attend the conference?
We will start ticket sales around April. You can sign up to our newsletter to receive updates from us. If you have a session idea to attend the conference as a speaker, you can pitch a session before 12 April 2024.
What does the conference fee include?
It includes two full day conference attendance, coffee breaks and lunch.
I am a speaker. Do I need to buy a ticket?
No. Our team will send you a speaker’s code to register and claim your free ticket.
I am a speaker. What is expected of me?
We want you to prepare well and deliver your talk/training in a way that will genuinely be useful for attendees. This is a methods-focused conference so we especially value sharing skills and expertise. We also appreciate when speakers talk about their learnings, good and bad. We prepared some tips for you, please check the tips for speakers.
Do you cover costs for speakers?
We ask for your organisation to cover your travel and accommodation costs, especially if you’re coming from a large newsroom. However, if you are a freelancer or your organisation cannot cover the costs, we will cover your travel costs and arrange accommodation for you. This is only for our speakers.
Can my spouse/children/partner/etc come with me?
If you have a child with you, feel free to bring them to the conference but please keep in mind we do not have childcare help. Anybody additional will need to buy a ticket and will need to be a journalist, scientist or a researcher.
If you’re a speaker and we are arranging your accommodation, you can bring a plus-one to stay with you but you have to communicate this information with the hotel and pay for the difference yourself.
What is the Climate Arena Fellowship programme?
We have a fellowship opportunity for those who have a cross-border and investigative climate story idea and are eager to work in a team setting. If selected, you will be supported with mentorship and working grants, and will attend Climate Arena in Bologna. For more information, go to the fellowships page.
What kind of help is offered if I need a visa to enter into Italy?
If you need a visa, please immediately contact zeynep@journalismarena.eu. We will do all we can to help you with your Schengen visa application.
Will you live-stream or record the conference sessions?
This is a fully in-person conference so no sessions will be live-streamed or recorded. Participants can live tweet or write about what’s being talked during the sessions, unless the speakers tell the audience otherwise.
How do you ensure a climate-friendly conference?
We thought a lot about this. Despite the challenges they bring, we believe in the power of face-to-face events. We encourage our attendees to travel by train and bus instead of by plane, though we understand this is not always possible. If we are covering travel costs, we ask our speakers to book train and bus tickets even if they’re more expensive. Our conference hotels are always within walking distance to the venue. During the conference, we do not use or distribute paper materials apart from name tags and a few posters, nor do we sell any conference merchandise. We only use catering companies that can serve vegetarian and vegan food, made with local produce, and without single-use materials. Because of this, our waste is always minimal. We know this is a drop in the ocean but even small steps help.
We believe the burden to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis lies with governments and regional bodies, who must enact strong climate policies, tackle lobbying, fight disinformation, tax multinational corporations, and punish wrongdoing. We are a few hundred journalists coming together to network, build trust, and we do what we can so our footprint is minimal.
What is the code of conduct?
We will not tolerate any inappropriate behaviour during the conference, including discriminatory acts, sexual harassment, intimidation, and deliberate disruption of panels. Any such act could result in the attendee’s expulsion from the event. We take this seriously so please write to climate@journalismarena.eu if you experience or witness any violations of appropriate code of conduct. There will also be a designated team member we will announce at the beginning of the conference that you can directly go to.
Who is financially supporting Climate Arena?
The conference is financially supported by the European Climate Foundation and the Laudes Foundation. We have complete editorial independence on the themes and topics we cover in the conference and the speakers we invite.
