EJTA Teachers’ Training 2026 participants eagerly waiting for a panel session to start. (Photo credits: Darja Maskin)
More than 70 delegates from over 30 journalism schools across 20 European countries gathered at University of Tartu in May 2026 for EJTA Teachers’ Training, a three-day event dedicated to exploring the theme of ‘Happiness in Journalism’. The programme focused on the values, practices, and environments that support journalists’ well-being, sense of purpose, and professional identity.
Following pre-meetings of six EJTA focus groups and the Tartu4Tomorrow task group, participants were engaged in discussions about happiness in the profession and examined how journalism educators can help students maintain hope, confidence, and commitment to a meaningful career.
A central message throughout the event was journalism education should equip future journalists with the emotional intelligence, ethical grounding, and resilience needed to navigate current and future challenges while preserving their sense of purpose.
The training provided an inspiring platform for sharing best practices, developing cross-border collaborations, and reflecting on the future of journalism education. Many thanks to the colleagues at University of Tartu for hosting such a thought-provoking event! We returned home with valuable ideas and inspiration to support the next generation of journalists.
Below you can find the presentations that were used during the training (pdf’s).
Wednesday, 20 May – EJTA Pre-Meetings
- Focus Group: Research
- Focus Group: Sports Journalism
- Focus Group: Inclusive Journalism
- Focus Group: Climate Journalism
- Focus Group: EUFactCheck + AI and Data Journalism
- Web Analytics for eufactcheck.com
- Frederik Marain (AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp): Vibe Coding for Journalists
- Focus Group: Media Literacy (first meeting)
- Robin Lybeck (Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences), Kaijaleena Runsten (Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences), Anne Leppäjärvi (Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences) & Cristina Nistor (Babeș-Bolyai University): MIL in Journalism Education / JEMILE project
See short reports from the different Focus Group meetings on page EJTA Focus Groups.
List of presentations continues below the image
Thursday, 21 May – EJTA Teachers’ Training, day 1
Keynote Speech
- Marju Himma (University of Tartu) & Anne Reino (University of Tartu): Leadership, Work, and Well-Being in Contemporary Journalism
Panel 1, session 1: Mental Health & Resilience
- Ángeles Fernández Barrero (University of Seville) & José Luis Rojas Torrijos (University of Seville): Reporting Tragedy, Preserving Well Being: Mental Health Education for Journalists in Spain
- Agnieszka Całek (Jagiellonian University) & Agnieszka Szymańska (Jagiellonian University): The Journalist’s Agency as a Source of Motivation: Shaping Attitudes Through the Promotion of Good Practices
- Jari Väliverronen (Tampere University) & Asbjørn Slot Jørgensen (Danish School of Media and Journalism) + Jan Fredrik Hovden, Liv Iren Hognestad, Valgerður Anna Jóhannsdóttir & Kristina Riegert: Stability and Growing Insecurity: Nordic Journalism Students’ Views on Journalism and Journalism Education
Panel 2, session 1: Advocacy & Local Journalism
- Stefaan Anrys (Artevelde University of Applied Sciences): From the Classroom to the Coast: Cultivating Ocean Journalism
- Annette Holm (Danish School of Media and Journalism) & Helge Kvam (Danish School of Media and Journalism): DMJX-laboratory: New Skills – New Identity for Journalist-students. Experiences from Producing Journalism in Collaboration with Communities.
- Linda Jense (Fontys University of Applied Sciences): Get Close and Personal with Your Audience: Building Journalistic Engagement in Students Through Anthropological Methods and Critical Reflection
Panel 1, session 2: Competences/Skills/Values
- Richard Brandt (TU Dortmund University): Aspiration Equals Reality?!: Comparing Economic Journalism Skills Taught in Journalism Education with the Requirements of Professional Journalism Practice in Germany – with a Special Focus on Journalistic Resilience and Happiness
- Radu Meza (Babeș-Bolyai University), Andreea Mogoș (Babeș-Bolyai University) & George Prundaru (Babeș-Bolyai University): The End of Journalism and Digital Media Education: Integrating Soft Skills and Design-Thinking-Oriented Practicum
- Soetkin Bulcke (Thomas More University of Applied Sciences) & Ann Verlinden (Thomas More University of Applied Sciences): A Job of Life Long Learning, Going Places and Satisfying Curiosity: What’s Not to Like?
Panel 2, session 2: AI/Data
- Miguel Crespo (Center for Professional Training for Journalists): Journalism Training in the Context of AI: Uncertainty, Adaptation and the Knowledge Gap in Portuguese Newsrooms
- Arnau Segura Montagut (University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia): Bridging the Classroom and the Newsroom: Professional and Real Spaces for Present and Future Journalists
- Yana Shekeriak-Kushka (Ivan Franko National University of Lviv): Data, War, AI, and New Media: How We Study Journalism in Lviv University
List of presentations continues below the image
Friday, 22 May – EJTA Teachers’ Training, day 2
Panel 1, session 3: Mental Health & Resilience
- Marijke Kolk (HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht): Teaching Trauma-Aware Journalism
- Anne Leppäjärvi (Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences): Insights into Journalistic Resilience: A Study on Journalism Students’ Expectations and Solutions for Professional Challenges and Career Sustainability
- Karmen Laur (Äripäev; Estonian business daily): Creating the Course “Journalist and Resilience”
Panel 2, session 3: Newsroom & Uni / Bridging the Gap
- Wouter Frateur (AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp): TaKE, a new European News Initiative
- Ana Keshelashvili (Georgian Institute of Public Affairs) & Will Cope (Solent University): Communities of Practice and Professional Identity Formation in Journalism Education: Learning through a Transnational World Cup Podcast Project
- Sinziana-Maria Jurau (Babeș-Bolyai University): Legal Literacy as a Foundation for Student Entrepreneurship in the AI Era
Panel 1, session 4: Creative Pedagogy
- José Luis Rojas Torrijos (University of Seville): Teaching Sports Journalism in Spain: Insights and Challenges
- Bram Crols (AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp): Zen and the Art of Embracing Documentaries as Resilience
- Markéta Malá (Masaryk University): Innovative Approaches to Teaching Journalism: Storytelling, Critical Engagement, Motivation
Panel 2, session 4: Creativity/Values/Competences/Skills
- Thijs van den Houdt (Fontys University of Applied Sciences): Struggling with the Self and the Performative; Students Negotiating Detachment and Relationality
- Vallo Nuust (University of Tartu): Metaphor as a Survival Strategy of Journalistic Language: Estonian Journalism 1924–2024
- Ragne Kõuts-Klemm (University of Tartu): Working as a Russian-speaking Journalist in Estonia: Reasons to Struggle and Reasons to be Happy
Panel 1, workshop
- Laurence de la Porte (HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht): Building Belonging in Journalism Education: Exchanging Practices for First-Year Motivation and Engagement
Panel 2, workshop
- Maria Murumaa-Mengel (University of Tartu) & Maia Klaassen (University of Tartu): How to Build Information Resilience at the Age of Information Disorders
