Dataharvest 2025 - the European Investigative Journalism Conference

The new European Commission's focus for the next five years will be on boosting industry's "competitiveness". This entails a radical deregulation agenda for rules that industry perceives as burdensome. Von der Leyen's deregulation agenda was heavily inspired by corporate lobbying campaigns. Last year, the chemical industry led on the Antwerp Declaration, a wish list of industry to slash regulations. This is now followed by the 'Clean Industrial Deal' which is pushing fossil gas for hydrogen, and ignores the other planetary crisis: pollution and biodiversity decline. CEO has compiled an initial list of more than 15 different tools for systemic deregulation. These create more hurdles for new progressive EU regulation, and create escape routes allowing companies to avoid regulation, as well as new hurdles for national level regulation. A good example are the Omnibus proposals, the first of which diluted sustainability reporting rules that had only recently been agreed. We'll share our insights on these new developments in the deregulation agenda, assess what's at stake, and how to build stories around them, at the European level and in your country.

Getting European data from EUROSTAT, the statistical office of the European Union, can be tricky, clicking through ever-increasing menus and confusing download buttons - but there is an easier way. Instead of manually downloading spreadsheets, we will learn how to use the API provided by Eurostat. Once you know how this works you will be able to adapt your knowledge to query data from other organizations including the OECD and the World Bank. We'll also learn how generative AI can help simplify querying data in this format by ensuring we use the correct syntax.Bring your own laptop: we will be using some Python: you will need a gmail account in order to access a copy of the script for the session. No other software is required.

The frequency of migrant crossings, and dangers faced by thousands of people continues to attract headlines across Europe. Here we take a deep dive into UNHCR and Frontex figures, plus data from the UK's Home Office.We will discuss the sources themselves, what they show, how they differ, their publishing schedules and their limitations. We will look at how to access the data, to visualise them, and to find other data with which to enhance these primary sources, not to mentions the stories these will yield!

Satellite imagery is a powerful tool for data-driven investigations, but getting started can be tricky. In this session, you'll learn how to navigate the U.S. Geological Survey's portal to access free satellite imagery from around the world - as well as common limitations when working with the data format. Then, using the *terra* package in R, you'll be guided through loading and analysing this data to identify urban heat islands. You will leave with practical skills, fresh inspiration and the confidence to tackle your own spatial analysis projects.

Participants should have a working knowledge of R. To get the most out of the session, please come with R & RStudio (or another coding platform of your choice) already installed on your computer and a (free) account on the USGS Earth Explorer portal

Journalism is almost never delivered live. These days, always there seems to be a screen between the journalists and the audience. But before the online and digital world swallowed everything, journalism reached people through the pages of a newspaper or magazine, on a TV screen, or on a crackling radio (if you are too young to know what we're talking about, ask your parents).

It doesn't have to be like that -- even today when most people start feeling sick and anxious at the mere thought of being away from their smartphones for a few hours.

There are offline and in-person ways for us to present, deliver and disseminate our investigations and other reporting. And there seems to be a growing appetite among audiences and (some) media organisations to explore ways to get together and experience journalistic storytelling live.

In this session, three journalists who've been experimenting with different offline and in-person ways of journalistic storytelling will share their experiences, the lessons learnt, and how it feels to have your audience look you in the eye and talk to you in person as you present or deliver your story.

Journalists are increasingly using laboratory analyses as part of their investigations. However, they often approach laboratories without fully understanding what this entails. In general, laboratory analyses can be used to trace the origin of goods (food, lumber, or steel) through methods such as DNA or isotopic analysis. They can also be used to analyse environmental matrices, such as water or soil, to detect pollutants. But how exactly does this process work? What are the right “research questions” to ask before contacting a laboratory? Which laboratory should you choose? How much does it cost? How long does it take to get results? And how relevant are these results to a journalistic investigation? These questions are often overlooked. It turns out that laboratory analysis is not a magic wand that can instantly solve an investigation.By the end of the session, participants will have learned simple but essential rules to ensure that laboratory analysis becomes a key component of their investigations—not just a superficial add-on.