The EYJA Alumni Project

The EYJA 2009 Winners trip to Berlin was a great opportunity for European Young Journalists from 30+ countries to meet. But it was once we all returned to our home countries that we realised the value of this network that we now had – friends and colleagues working on similar topics in almost every European country (including non-EU members); inevitably, each of us has a slightly different perspective on any European issue. And so began an exchange of e-mails discussing ways to remain in touch, starting with the 2010 edition of the European Commission EYJA competition. Since then, ideas have emerged and crystallised from our team members, scattered throughout the world. Working almost exclusively online, we’ve started to build up a solid network of dedicated, curious and creative people.

In May 2010, we joined the 2010 EYJA winners in Istanbul. Our participation there was focused on three projects:
1) European jury – our team, as non-voting members, gave their input to the European jury panel in selecting this year’s 3 special prize winners.
2) Reportage – we spent 2 days exploring Istanbul individually and in teams, aiming to discover and record the stories and faces of the city. Our reportage results will be published in our own languages, in our own countries.
3) Conference – at the final conference of the EC/EYJA 2010 winners, we co-organised one of the workshops, presented our work to the audience and also reported live from conference day.

Our next steps as a team are being discussed and will be developed soon. 2010 winners are warmly invited to join us in developing the network – we’re looking forward to hearing your ideas!