coffeefactory, the editors blog

Cafebabel presents Ourspace

emauduit — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:17:00 +0200

How would you find the idea of an online platform where you can discuss politics and contact directly your politicians?

At OurSpace, us, young Europeans, have the opportunity to express ourselves over politics and society, make recommendations, propose solutions and vote for best proposals. Not much different from a social network discussing politics.

Actually, OurSpace is the place where we can chat with the people who decide for our future, politicians and the wider decision makers.

At present, OurSpace is offered in 4 languages: German, English, Greek, Czech.

Hot topics currently debated are:

Should the UK stay in Europe? (English)
Discussion about immigration and integration in Austria (German)
Should Greece leave the euro-zone? (Greek)
The cost of education in the CZ republic (Czech).

Cafébabel is a partner of the Ourspace project and we'd like to invite you to register to Ourspace and join the debate online.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

This project is co-funded by the EC under the ICT Policy Support Programme. This portal reflects the view only of the Consortium, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein.

cafebabel Berlin blog awarded German 'Europe of Citizens' prize

Nabeelah — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:04:00 +0200

On 16 May Der Freitag newspaper in Germany recognised cafebabel.com Berlin as a European prize winner in 2013.

cafebabel Berlin, the blog of the official network of volunteer journalists and fixers in Berlin which was launched in 2005, join the folks at the Forum for European Journalists (FEJS) and Project .Part as the three official winners. They were selected from 89 projects and amidst over 40, 000 online votes.

The local cafebabel.com Berlin team in 2012 during an 'Orient Express Reporter/ Europe on the ground' reporting mission with foreign journalists

'Europe is more than a Europe of banks and politicians,' says a statement from Der Freitag newspaper, 'and this competition proved it. These projects showed us that a European identity and solidarity does exist, that Europe is more than just a dictum.' 'cafebabel.com and FEJS offer long-term perspectives for the deepening of European thought through their focus and status as relevant platforms,' says Tanja Dückers, of the jury.

cafebabel Berlin wins the tune of 1, 000 euros for the competition. The multilingual, pan-European team of young journalists are part of a local, active network of bloggers, journalists and fixers who put Berlin and its stories on the map for cafebabel.com, the European magazine. They plan to use the funding to further their series of portraits of young Europeans living across the borders, in conjunction with their colleagues at cafebabel Vienna, cafebabel Belgrade, cafebabel Budapest, and cafebabel Sarajevo.

A huge thanks to all the cafebabel Berlin fans and supporters who have been giving us our daily online click of support!

Call for journalists/ photographers: 'EUtopia' on the ground, 19-23 June 2013, Dublin

Katha — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:01:00 +0200

REPORT FOR US FROM DUBLIN

June 19th – 23th, 2013

Editor-in-charge: Manu Tomillo (m.tomillo@cafebabel.com)

7 cities and 7 special city editions of feature reports: we're continuing our series of monthly reporting missions to a different city in our Europe-wide network, this year with ‘EUtopia on the ground’, a special focus on the future of our European continent.

STEP 1: WHAT IT´S ABOUT

WHAT IS IT: In 2013 we launch our monthly editorial series, ‘EUtopia on the ground’, which aims to raise consciousness on the issue of future and fantasy in Europe in times of a major identity crisis.

TO DO WHAT: Valorising local, young projects, ideas, stories, initiatives and angles that have emerged from preoccupations challenging our future and fantasy. Be ‘on the ground’ and make us feel you’ve been hanging out and working in Dublin. Try to use more 'gonzo' journalism than 'institutional' journalism: be creative, be personal, whilst staying journalistic-minded with the facts and statistics, the sources and interviewees. Spend time with locals, describe what you saw/felt/learned from them. Be critical, ‘EU’ isn’t an ideology for cafebabel.com.

STEP 2: RECRUITING YOU

WANTED: We need three journalists (written or video) and one photographer to join this mission: writing on aforesaid offbeat, future and utopia-related topics with the support of our local host team. Make sure you don’t come unprepared, so we can make some noise whilst we are in town.

It’s your article proposals that will get you noticed for this mission: so be creative, do some research before applying, flog your idea donkeys to me.

STEP 3: YOU ON EUTOPIA ON THE GROUND

LOGISTICS: Book your own flights/trains to Dublin: a sum of up to 280 euros is reimbursed by cafebabel.com (provided receipts are kept) upon return from the trip and receipt of the article. Other travel and food expenses are reimbursed (for more information see with our project manager Emeline). The team is hosted by warm locals or a hostel.

EDITORIAL: The editor in charge at Paris HQ, who will be leading the mission in Dublin (read their cityblog: dublin.cafebabel.com), will supervise you in defining the angle of your article and making preparations for interviews at least a couple of weeks before the trip is due to commence.

BUT: it’s up to you to do your own research before leaving for the project, to find interesting and book interviewees and ideas 'on the ground'. The written piece is due in strictly one week later, when the relevant linguistic editor from the central Paris office will edit your piece, which will be translated by our volunteer networks, and then published in six languages within the following month.

STEP 4: APPLY!

With your CV, three-line EUTOPIA article proposals, link with the news and crisis of ideas and identity in Europe, ideas of interviewees... be original! We look forward to eating them up!

[Contact: Manu Tomillo at eutopia@cafebabel.com]

Follow the advancement of the project on the Eutopia on the ground Facebook page.

This project is funded with support from the European Commission via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hippocrène Foundation and the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind.

Apply for Cafebabel Journalism academy euromed

emauduit — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:42:00 +0200

Are you a journalist, an activist or a blogger?
Are you interested in participatory journalism?
Do you want to meet other passionate young people to exchange about freedom of press, democracy and the role of media in Europe and Northern Africa?
Do you want to create media projects with other participants?

This four-day meet up is designed for you!

Journalism academy Euromed is a four-day euro-Mediterranean seminar coorganised with the Tunisian pro-democracy organisation I Watch, where 45 European and Northern African bloggers, professional and non-professional journalists will meet to debate and exchange experiences about media practices.
Participants will have a unique opportunity to discuss about citizen journalism, freedom of press, democracy and the role of media in contemporary societies. They will also attend trainings on web 2.0 practices and be encouraged to create media projects together.

When?
26 June - 1 July (full attendance for the four days mandatory)

Where?
Centre international de séjour Eugène Hénaff
ALJ 93 - 51, rue de la Commune de Paris - 93300 Aubervilliers - France

Programme overview
Plenty of different activities are already planned for a limited number of successful applicants:

Wednesday 26 June
Cafebabel staff will welcome you at 6pm and get to know each other over Parisian dinner

Thursday 27 June
Welcome word: Introducing the conference objectives
Knowing each other: Pitch your project
Round table: Panorama of youth and political change: discussing the role of youth in your country

Friday 28 June
Training: How to approach news in a journalistic style? The participants will debate on the information processing approach.
Practicing: Media battle: write in small groups on current affairs. Groups of 4-5 participants will compete to create the best editorial project synopsis

Saturday 29 June
Training: Using social media for social change: best case of Facebook, twitter phenomenon
Practicing: Innovative formats to tell about the news

Sunday 30 June
Training: How to build up a media project: best case scenario
Practicing: Build up your media project

Monday 1 July
Departure

Programme subject to modifications

The workshops will be held in English and hosted by cafebabel.com HQ professionals and experienced external speakers. Do you see yourself joining us on this ride in Paris in the springtime? We invite you to fill in the application form. Please take note that this form is not a registration form. Wait for our feedback before purchasing your transport tickets. Besides, read carefully the participation principles and check that you respect the eligibility rules described on page 2 of the form before you apply.

Only 45 highly motivated persons will be selected to participate in these seminars.

Applications close on 20th May 2013!

Any question ? Contact Emeline at e.mauduit@cafebabel.com

We look forward to welcoming you!

In partnership with:

Euromed journalism academy is cofinanced by the Conseil régional d’Ile de France, the Council of Europe (European Youth Foundation) and the Allianz Kulturstiftung.

With the kind support of:

Call for journalists/ photographers: 'EUtopia' on the ground, 30 May - 2 June 2013, Naples

Nabeelah — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:15:00 +0200

Deadline: Friday 19 April 2013

More links on the mission:

EUwhat-ia?
Check the EUtopia calendar of reporting missions

Video of cafebabel.com Speak Up! Europe participants

Nabeelah — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:18:00 +0100

Thanks to Mathilde Bournique for the photos and concept, Adrien le Coarer for the video montage, and Strange Republik for the music (Cage)

Call for journalists/ photographers: 'EUtopia' on the ground, 11-14 April 2013, Warsaw (closed)

Nabeelah — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:16:00 +0100

EUwhat-ia?
Check the EUtopia calendar here

Invitation to the debate in Paris: How online media make use of citizen participation / Saturday 9th March / 10:45-12:30

emauduit — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:35:00 +0100

In the framework of its ‘Speak up!’ training sessions (cofinanced by the European Commission), cafebabel.com is happy to invite you to the debate “how online media make use of citizen participation” that will take place on Saturday 9^th March, in Paris.

Cafebabel.com organises a debate in the framework of its ‘Speak up!’ citizen journalism training sessions. This debate is the perfect opportunity to meet passionate citizen and professional journalists talk about this new form of expression.

At this occasion, only high quality speakers will explain how they use citizen participation in their media:

Yann Guegan, deputy chief editor of Rue 89
Claire Ulrich, editor of the French version of Global Voices
Johan Weisz-Myara, editor in chief of StreetPress

The debate will take place on Saturday 9^th March, in Paris, at the FIAP Jean Monnet. We’ll welcome you from 10:45 am.

The debate ends at 12:30 pm.

Here is the address of the event:
FIAP Jean Monnet
Salle Berlin
30 Rue Cabanis
75014 Paris
Metro: Denfert Rochereau (lines 4, 6, RER B), Saint Jacques (line 6)

Register HERE.

Registrations are mandatory to participate to the debate.

Don't wait too long! Only 20 seats available!

Call for journalists/ photographers: 'EUtopia' on the ground, 4-7 April 2013, Athens (closed)

Katha — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:49:00 +0100

Report for us from Athens, 04-07 April 2013

Editor in charge: Katharina Kloss/ eutopia@cafebabel.com

7 EU cities: 7 monthly special 'city' editions in 2013

We're continuing our series of monthly reporting missions to a different city in our Europe-wide network, in 2013 with the launch of EUtopia on the ground, a special focus on the future of our European continent.

STEP ONE: WHAT IS EUTOPIA?

You tell us! This monthly editorial series aims to raise consciousness on the issues of the future and fantasy in Europe in times of a major identity crisis.

TO DO WHAT:

- Valorising local, young projects, ideas, stories, initiatives and angles that have emerged from preoccupations challenging our future and fantasy.

- Be ‘on the ground’ and make us feel you’ve been hanging out and working in Athens.

- Use more 'gonzo' journalism than 'institutional' journalism - be creative, be personal, whilst staying journalistic-minded with the facts and statistics, the sources and interviewees.

- Spend time with locals, describe what you saw/ felt/ learned from them.

- Be critical - ‘EU’ isn’t an ideology for cafebabel.com.

STEP TWO: WANTED

Three journalists (written or video) and one photographer will be selected to join the relevant editor on this mission to Greece - writing on aforesaid offbeat, future and utopia-related topics with the support of our local host team.

Don’t come unprepared, so we can make some noise whilst we are in town.

It’s your article proposals that will get you noticed for this mission: so be creative, do some research before applying, flog your idea donkeys to me.

STEP THREE: LOGISTICS

- Book your own flights/ trains to Athens.

- A sum of up to 280 euros is reimbursed by cafebabel.com (provided travelling receipts are kept) upon return from the trip and receipt of the article.

- Other travel and food expenses are reimbursed (for more information see with our project manager Emeline/ e.mauduit@cafebabel.com). The team is hosted by our warm locals (read cafebabel Athens blog here), or at a hostel.

EDITORIAL

The editor in charge at Paris HQ, who will be leading the mission in Athens, will supervise you in defining the angle of your article and making preparations for interviews at least three weeks before the trip is due to commence.

BUT

... It is up to you to do your own research before leaving for the project, to find interesting and book interviewees and ideas 'on the ground'. Do not be afraid to come prepared.

DEADLINES

The written piece is due in strictly one week later, when the relevant linguistic editor from the central Paris office will edit your piece.

It will then be translated by our volunteer networks, and published in six languages within the following month.

STEP FOUR: APPLY

- With your CV, three-line EUtopia article proposals, newsworthy links, reference to the crisis of ideas and identity in Europe, ideas of interviewees...

Be original! Be non-consensual! Please do not write to us with anything less - or your application will not be considered. We look forward to working with you!

Application deadline: 4 march 2013!

Contact: Katharina Kloss, eutopia@cafebabel.com

(Image: (cc)Vasilikos Lukas/flickr)

12 faces of cafebabel.com on our 12th birthday, 1 February 2013

emauduit — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:45:00 +0100

Happy birthday cafebabel.com! On 1 February 2013, cafebabel.com turned 12 years old. To celebrate this event, we invited 12 of our network members to speak about their experience with cafebabel.com! The teasers were first published on Facebook and are now available in full version.

1 - Simon, cafebabel.com Athens team member, Greece

(Image: courtesy of © Simon Rousianidis)

'cafebabel.com is a hub! I was lucky enough to know the founders Giorgos & Elina, thus, it was just a matter of time to get involved! In those six years, Cafebabel Greece have been organising events, covering important issues of the daily life, project managing, travelling across Europe and making loads of new friends. I'd say I have mostly trying to be myself, while implying my vision for the EU and interacting with other like-minded people!

The best thing about cafebabel.com is itself actually! It's a pan-European 'parea' - this is the Greek word for company, friendship and gathering - enlightening in front of ones eyes the prospects of unified nations, cultures and habits!

What would be a kind-of-wish, for the next 12 years, would be to transform the magazine into an online media broadcasting agency. An open-source, grass-roots journalistic project - at least in terms of strategic thinking. So, I'd expect more 'local teams', a bigger interaction between them and a greater impact in the way the EU's operations are planned and executed. I think this is a noble cause, though achievable.'

2 - Nathalie, debate organiser, Brussels

(Image: © courtesy of Nathalie Jusseaume)

‘I was a student in European affairs and communication when I met my teacher, Mana, who is president of Babel International. My classmates and I organised a huge debate for the first time and our partner was cafebabel.com Brussels, the local team which Mana also ran at the time.

I was really curious about this association; Ii thought the concept was really good, interesting and original. Finally I could take part in the emergence of a European public space! I had to find an internship for the last year of my masters and I thought it would be great to work for cafebabel.com as an intern. Plus I love writing.

I started as an editorial coordinator and met people, talked about matters I liked with them, and ended up organising debates. In the next 12 years I hope cafebabel.com gets some recognition from the European institutions, but also for the magazine to keep on their right track - having more and more 'babel communities' in Europe. I hope that one day, when we talk in the street or wherever about cafebabel.com, people says 'Oh yeah I know it, and it's pretty cool; I'm going to get involved.’

3 - Dionne, reader, London

(Image: courtesy of © Dionne Walker/ other-ing.com )

‘I was wandering about a pan - European magazine, in the blogosphere and stalled at the crossroads of pluralism, art, peoples and tongues: cafebabel.com stood in my way! I got involved after I read quite a few great articles that coincided with my own perspective and interest of mobilising people and ideas through the interaction of text, digital & cultural geography, photography, film and equality politics. I see cafebabel.com as more than a news provider and social media platform. On top of sharing thoughts, ideas and current affair stories, it's translating the original echo of voices across Europe. For the next twelve years, my expectations are more analysis of the multiple layers of the cultural shifts taking place simultaneously at local and global levels. I would also enjoy an expansion into radio.’

4 - Cristina, former Spanish editor

(Image: © Patricia Cartes Andres)

How did you find cafebabel.com?
‘I found cafebabel.com thanks to a friend of a friend of mine, who was working as the editor of the French version. I was studying in Mexico and I decided to write an article on the climate change summit that was taking place in Rio de Janeiro.’

How did you get involved? What's been your trajectory?
‘I started as a volunteer, a journalist. Then I took part in one of the cafebabel.com 'Europe on the ground' flagship projects in Strasbourg, called ‘Green Europe’. It was there when I learned the Spanish version was hiring an editor. I didn't hesitate for a second; I submitted my application and I got the job.’

The best thing about the European magazine?
‘The right to the freedom of expression, which today seems kind of a luxury good in the media world. cafebabel.com offers accurate and reliable information, and it is a fresh magazine where there's no space for censorship —even though the truth can hurt sometimes.’

What you expect of the magazine in the next 12 years?
‘I really wish cafebabel.com keeps on growing and becomes published in more languages, as well as seeing an increase in its number of readers (currently the magazine gets around one million page views a month). I hope the freedom of expression remains this magazine's flagship.’

5 - Benjamin, writer, Austria

(Image: courtesy of © Benjamin Wolf)

'A real European media? 'Doesn't exist' - at least that's what I thought until half a year ago. That was when I came across cafebabel.com while surfing on the net. A coloured world of languages, visions, themes and articles from all over Europe opened up in front of me.

In the meantime I started translating, replied to a bunch of calls for authors and was allowed to publish my very own series about transatlantic relations.

The best of cafebabel.com is its young authors with off-beat perspectives, the language chaos and various topics.

In the next twelve years cafebabel.com should become a must in Europe! Many young people in German speaking countries and in Central/ Eastern Europe don't know about the magazine, yet would be thrilled to become readers or contributors. So cheers to make it become an evidence soon to ask: 'A European media?' - 'Ja klar, cafebabel.com!'

6 - Malen, former development officer, France

(Image taken at Babel Ackademy, Istanbul, 2010 © Anne-Lore Mesnage/ anneloremesnage.com)

How did you discover cafebabel.com?
I was coming back from a European Voluntary Service stint in Estonia in 2006, studying European affairs (with an Erasmus experience in the middle), and when I would read this magazine I found a source of inspiration that I couldn’t find in any other media.

How did you get involved?
I had this intuition by reading the magazine that one day that I would work for cafebabel.com - perhaps because I found myself quite in the Babelian spirit. I responded to an offer as a ‘development officer’ and I was happy when the director, Alexandre, told me ‘we want to work with you’. I packed my bag, left Marseille and arrived at cafebabel.com HQ in Paris.

The best thing about the European magazine?
What I appreciate about cafebabel.com is that there are few restrictions. There is a freedom of subject, tone and perspective, and at the same time the editorial charter seems to be respected.
I found the ‘Babel Academy’ summer universities that we did in Istanbul and Strasbourh for example most inspiring, meeting up with the rest of the network.

What do you expect of the magazine in the next 12 years?
I really hope that cafebabel.com can become participatory via its legal structure as an ‘association’. I hope the local teams in different cities stay lively and an important part of the future of the magazine. Sometimes I think it’d be nice to hold a paper version of the magazine, say a monthly edition, with a selection of the best articles. Why not a little paper compilation with the special editions to mark the magazine’s birthday? The idea has been floating since the magazine was born in 2001, but I think we’ll be done with screens in the next twelve years!

7 - Annie, former intern, Scotland

(Image: © Trevor Fountain/ texasexpat.net/gallery/)

‘I stumbled across cafebabel thanks to good ol’ uncle google a few years ago when I was looking for things to read in German and was hooked - a magazine which actually wrote about things I was interested in. Very exciting. I’ve run through most of the roles in cafebabel over the last four years. I first got involved as a translator, which led to a six-month stint in the cafebabel headquarters, where I wrote, edited and debated in a babble of languages. I also project managed a collaboration with German TV channel ZDF, which involved pretending to be a professional journalist on the streets of Paris. Since leaving, I’ve kept in contact by running the poetry blog, and writing articles about politics and fairy tales.

cafebabel.com is unique for the opportunities it offers to young people: thanks to the magazine I’ve spent amazing weekends in Copenhagen and Croatia, met fantastic people and had the chance to interview some of my favourite authors. However, the best thing about cafebabel.com is its Utopian outlook – and I hope that's something it holds onto over the next twelve years. With the petty schoolyard squabbling going on in European politics, it’s good to know that there’s a bunch of creative, quirky and off-kilter people scattered across the continent who are keeping the dream of unity in diversity alive.’

8 - Marta , translator, Poland

(Image: courtesy of © Marta Szweda)

'My collaboration with cafebabel.com began in November 2012 as I just started specialising in translation. When a friend of mine told me that she was translating for cafebabel.com, I found out that the articles published in the magazine were very interesting and in the news. Having a ‘European magazine’ where all the articles are written by young people, translated by young people and dedicated to them (though not exclusively) is something new and fresh. Another advantage is that each ‘babelian’ may present his or her opinion and it is interesting to compare the different perceptions of one and the same matter. That is why I decided to become part of this project’

9 - Eloisa, photo journalist, Italy

(Image © Luka Gorjup/ www.facebook.com/luka.gorjup, taken in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for 'MultiKulti' aka 'multiculturalism on the ground' by cafebabel.com, 2012)

How did you find cafebabel.com?
‘I discovered cafebabel.com through an interest in European topics. I find at least three quarters of related news on the magazine - I could find my news elsewhere, but I’d rather read cafebabel.com articles because of their fresh and young approach. As it means working with young people, I have come to prefer their advice.’

How did you get involved?
‘I fell in love with the idea of being with other young people as interested in the European idea as me; I was eager to discover the hidden meaning of being European. I usually work on my own, but for once I wanted to put myself in a collective environment, so I applied for the 2012 flagship project, ‘MultiKulti aka multiculturalism on the ground.’

The best thing about the European magazine?
Everytime I get in touch with cafebabel.com is a positive experience – be it with authors, editors, or the team of the main editoriual office in Paris. But my best experience ever was being on reportage in Slovenia accompanied by journalists from Bulgaria, Germany, Brazil and Spain. We were ‘Multikulti’ Ljubljana!’

What do you expect of the magazine in the next 12 years?
‘I expect that cafebabel.com will keep translating and talking about these European topics. I hope that, with the help of European funds, cafebabel.com could offer more opportunities to work and get involved to these young journalists who are not only ‘multikulti’, multilingual and multi-purpose, but really well-prepared, enthusiastic and eager to participate!’

10 - Mario, founder cafebabel.com Naples

(Image: courtesy of © Mario Paciolo)

How did you find cafebabel.com?
I was back from a trip in the Balkans. Before leaving, I was reading about the tragic nineties in these countries. After being in Sarajevo, where every street leads you past history and memories, I was really curious about the reaction of people in general when it comes to this heavy past; Orient Express Reporter, a cafebabel.com flagship project of 2010-2012, was calling me.

What is the best thing about cafebabel.com?
I started to publish some articles. Before, I used to write just from a local point of view. Blogging for cafebabel.com, I was asked to enlarge my horizon, the context of the topic, by linking my point of view with the one from other countries. I was able to detect the similarities and the differences and, above all, the purposes that Italy and Europe have in common. Then, (former Italian editor) Jacopo Franchi and myself decided to launch a city blog for Naples.

What is the best thing about cafebabel.com?
The endless series of e-mails that are necessary to start the blog; the wonderful wandering by bike that we did across Strasbourg with member of the network, during cafebabel.com’s ‘Shake Up Europe’ journalism training seminars in 2012. The most beautiful experience is sharing ideas, proposals and thoughts with people here in Naples for the city blog. Without the enthusiasm of every single person here, we could not do that.

What do you expect of the magazine in the next twelve years?
I would like to find what I already notice in every article: a new point of view, an unexpected approach to Europe. It would be interesting too just to try to ask and involve also non-European people in order to start a larger multicultural debate.

11 - Miha and Nina, fixers, videomakers, photographers, cafebabel Barcelona

(Image: Miha Mohoric by Lucille Caballero for ‘Green Europe in Ljubljana, summer 2011’ by cafebabel.com/ lucillecaballero.com)

How did you find cafebabel.com?
Nina: If I hadn't moved to Ljubljana, I would never have met Miha. If Miha hadn’t applied for a documentary workshop in Tirana, we would never have met Lucille, a French photographer. So, one day Lucille came to Ljubljana to work on her article for an online newspaper called cafebabel.com, and the rest is history.
Ironically Miha, you even featured on cafebabel Brussels in an interview before you got involved in Slovenia.

What's been your ensuing trajectory at cafebabel.com?
Miha: My first experience working for cafebabel.com was as a fixer for the team at Ljubljana Green Europe (one of the flagship reporting projects for 2011). Nine months later I participated myself in the Multikulti On the Ground project in Athens (one of the flagship reporting projects for 2012), as a filmmaker. I made a video report about dance popping in Athens. Most recently I have been participating as photographer for the cafebabel Barcelona blog (run by Nina Behek), where I moved for my studies.

What is the best thing about cafebabel.com?
Miha: Definitely, the people - not only the ones I worked with, but also the people who are part of the stories which were told or shown. Also the experiences and knowledge gathered through the process, especially the one shared by fellow colleagues, is priceless. Meeting people with the same interests, hanging out, having a great time and doing something that makes all those people happy, makes the magazine what it is today.

Nina: I ended up applying for an internship with this notorious magazine, and here I am now, writing articles, taking pictures and talking to people in different languages in Barcelona. I am doing what I really love (in a city that I don't so much, but you can’t have the cake and eat it too). I'm doing something that I didn't know at all that I could - and all this just because of this magazine.

What do you expect of the magazine in the next twelve years?
Miha: I would expect cafebabel.com to extend its projects also outside Europe, especially to third world countries. It would be nice to give more attention to the use of video in the magazine, maybe get involved into some short documentary projects or even its own online TV. Well, we will see!

Nina: This magazine already gave me something so big that I don't ask for more - it made me realise what I want to do in my life. And if some readers have found themselves or have realised something from some of the articles that cafebabel.com publishes, then the job of the magazine is accomplished. This mission of cafebabel.com will continue on,for much much longer than twelve years.

12 - Elina, Athens team founder and official member, Greece

(Image: courtesy of © Elina Makri)

How did you find cafebabel.com?
'I found cafebabel on the internet, when I returned to Athens after my studies in France and Belgium-, I realised with horror, 'Well, this is it? Now I am staying in Athens and I will do Greco-Greek things? Not a chance!' God took pity on me and one winter afternoon, I stumbled across the cafebabel.com website'

How did you get involved/ what's been your trajectory?
'In late 2006, I sent an email to the editor-in-chief stating that I would like to get involved, asking about the possibilities and so on. We founded the team with two other people, a Greek guy called Pavlos and a Spanish girl called Olga, both of whom are now in Madrid. Then Giorgos Kokkolis joined and we are inseparable. The real boost of the babelian spirit was with the 'Europe on the Ground' flagship project of 2007, when French, Spanish, German, Italian and Polish journalists joined the former development officer Nuala Morgan here in Athens, to write articles.'

The best thing about it?
'It's freshness, multinational projects and grassroots mindset!'

What you expect of the magazine in the next 12 years?
'Innovation in the media - MADE IN EUROPE. Always keeping the grassroot-informal attitude but for sophisticated and fresh approach to matters, something you do not find in other media. More media projects on the works so that can reveal the potential and the pathologies of our old continent through European eyes.'

'Speak Up!', cafebabel journalism conference in Paris, 7-12 March (closed)

emauduit — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:07:00 +0100

cafebabel.com is proud to present ‘Speak Up!’, a 5-day series of pan-European citizen journalism training conferences

Are you a citizen journalist or a blogger? Do you volunteer for citizen media projects? Do you want to improve your journalistic skills?

Our training sessions are designed for you!

Why should you register for 'Speak Up!'?
cafebabel.com’s series of training seminars is the perfect opportunity for you to improve your knowledge of participatory media, share best-practice cases with citizen journalism experts and improve your writing skillswith other passionate colleagues, who will be attending from all over Europe.
You’ll also pick up techniques on how to make your articles more European reader-friendly and experience how to write a real-time feature report ‘on the ground’ in Paris.

When?
7-12 March 2012 (full attendance for the five-days mandatory)

Where?
Paris, France
At the FIAP Jean Monnet and the Foundation for the Progress of Humankind

If you speak English and want to improve your journalistic skills in a dynamic multicultural environment for five whole days in Paris, hosted by cafebabel.com, don’t wait any longer!

Application deadlines: 7 February

Only 25 participants will be selected...

'Speak Up!' is co-financed by the European Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme (Grundtvig) for adult education.

Calendar 2013: EU/ Balkan cities confirmed for 'EUtopia' reporting missions

Nabeelah — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:05:00 +0100

As cafebabel.com has done every year since we launched our flagship, award-winning projects in 2005, we plan where we will send teams of pan-European journalists and photographers every month according to where our kind hosts and volunteers are going to be, as well as wherever volunteers have built official legal, affiliated associations.

That's why in 2013 we will be returning to our old favourites, Budapest and Athens, and more newer friends, Zagreb and Warsaw, to be welcomed for our reporting trips for EUtopia 2013.

In 2013 we'd also like to welcome the teams from Naples and Dublin, who have been doing an excellent job with their local writers and blogging efforts, and also Helsinki, home to a former cafebabel Parisian who invites us with open arms.

Thanks for being a part of the EUtopic cafebabel network we will be building editorially over the next six months!

Journalists and photographers, please keep the provisional agenda as noted below in mind for applications. Each city reporting mission will, as per usual, be recruited nearer the time with the relevant editor from Paris HQ.

                 February                    Budapest (the call closes 31 January)
                 March                            Athens
                 April                               Warsaw
                 May                                 Naples
                 June                                 Dublin
                 July                                  Zagreb
                 September                Helsinki

Ask no questions, and hear no lies... eutopia@cafebabel.com

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hippocrene Foundation and the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind

Call for journalists/ photographers: 'EUtopia' on the ground, 21-24 February 2013, Budapest (closed)

Valeria Nicoletti — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:57:00 +0100

Report for us from Budapest, 21- 24 February 2013

Editor in charge: Valeria Nicoletti/ eutopia@cafebabel.com

7 EU cities: 7 monthly special 'city' editions in 2013

STEP ONE: WHAT IS EUTOPIA?

You tell us! This monthly editorial series aims to raise consciousness on the issues of the future and fantasy in Europe in times of a major identity crisis.

TO DO WHAT:

- Valorising local, young projects, ideas, stories, initiatives and angles that have emerged from preoccupations challenging our future and fantasy.

- Be ‘on the ground’ and make us feel you’ve been hanging out and working in Budapest.

- Use more 'gonzo' journalism than 'institutional' journalism - be creative, be personal, whilst staying journalistic-minded with the facts and statistics, the sources and interviewees.

- Spend time with locals, describe what you saw/ felt/ learned from them.

- Be critical - ‘EU’ isn’t an ideology for cafebabel.com.

STEP TWO: WANTED

Three journalists (written or video) and one photographer will be selected to join the relevant editor on this mission to Hungary - writing on aforesaid offbeat, future and utopia-related topics with the support of our local host team.

Don’t come unprepared, so we can make some noise whilst we are in town.

It’s your article proposals that will get you noticed for this mission: so be creative, do some research before applying, flog your idea donkeys to me.

STEP THREE: LOGISTICS

- Book your own flights/ trains to Budapest.

- A sum of up to 280 euros is reimbursed by cafebabel.com (provided receipts are kept) upon return from the trip and receipt of the article.

EDITORIAL

The editor in charge at Paris HQ, who will be leading the mission in Budapest (read their cityblog, budapest.cafebabel.com), will supervise you in defining the angle of your article and making preparations for interviews at least three weeks before the trip is due to commence.

BUT

... It is up to you to do your own research before leaving for the project, to find interesting and book interviewees and ideas 'on the ground'. Do not be afraid to come prepared.

DEADLINES

The written piece is due in strictly one week later, when the relevant linguistic editor from the central Paris office will edit your piece.

It will then be translated by our volunteer networks, and published in six languages within the following month.

STEP FOUR: APPLY

- With your CV, three-line EUtopia article proposals, newsworthy links, reference to the crisis of ideas and identity in Europe, ideas of interviewees...

Be original! Be non-consensual! Please do not write to us with anything less - or your application will not be considered. We look forward to working with you!

Contact: Valeria Nicoletti, eutopia@cafebabel.com

(Image: (cc) panoramas/ flickr)

'EUtopia on the ground': discover cafebabel.com's flagship reporters project for 2013

Nabeelah — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:47:00 +0100

After the resounding successes of Europe on the ground (2007-2008), EU Crisis on the ground (2009/ 2009), Green Europe on the ground (2009/ 2010), Multikulti on the ground (2011/2012) and the award-winning two-year project Orient Express Reporter I and II (2010-2012), cafebabel.com is back with a new year-long reporting theme for correspondents...

2013 is dedicated to EUtopia.

The spiel
'cafebabel.com' is a citizen media aiming to empower European citizens. Young journalists - whether professional or not - have the opportunity to gain a genuine journalistic experience reporting 'on the ground'.

With this new project, cafebabel.com wants you to dream of a better Europe. Our future seems so dark if we believe the unemployment statistics, the European member states debts, the price increases and the retreat we probably won’t get. Yes, we need to save money but not ideas and visions!

In 2013, cafebabel.com will honour European initiatives provided that they are innovative, daring and sometimes revolutionary with a small strand of utopia! It's the perfect opportunity for you to interview people with different visions and projects on topics which affect young Europeans and are at the heart of political debates in Europe.

What kind of Europe do you want to show? The one viewed by an indignant protester? The one seen by a project creator? Or the one of glanced at by a young politician ?

EUtopia in figures
We will publish 35 feature reports and 7 photo reports, drawn from visits to 7 cities in the EU. For each report, the mission that we have accepted is to bring together 5 young journalists of different nationalities in an EU city for 4 days. We choose cities where cafebabel has a local team of volunteers and pioneers to welcome and help journalists develop their articles, as is a crucial rule of our citizen media: hospitality. The project will be launched in Budapest, 21 to 24 February. We will give you more information on the cities to come when the schedule is set in later, individual posts.

Want to participate?
Do Applicants have to be under 35. Only persons resident in a country eligible for the programme will get their travel expenses reimbursed. It is not a matter of nationality but residence: participants can only come from and travel from a country that has chosen to participate in this European programme. The countries participating in the programme are: the 27 member states of the European Union + Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Publishing your article: back at Paris HQ
Back home, you have one week to send your articles. Then our editors will edit the articles, that will then be translated into all six official languages of the magazine on cafebabel.com, thanks to our wonderful, hardworking teams of volunteer translators. All texts need to be a maximum of 6,000 characters with spaces, whilst all images for slideshows should number between 12 and 20.

Are you in?
Only serious candidates interested in writing and producing an original, fresh and well-researched article for cafebabel.com need apply with your ideas and thoughts. For everybody else - you risk not catching our attention.

Infographic: what cafebabel.com did in 2012

Nabeelah — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:56:00 +0100

Britain out of EU: cafebabel.com members featured on Franco-German TV channel Arte

Nabeelah — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:03:00 +0100

On 8 December, at 23:17, the Franco-German television channel Arte screened a documentary on Great Britain's exit from the EU. Members of the cafebabel.com network from Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain and Sweden were featured sharing their opinions on the topic.

'There was no need for the referendum that the Brits had organised about a euro exit. Most British people are for leaving the European Union. One year later, in 2016, presenter Theo Koll asks what the economic consequences of this exit are for the common market. The UK is after all the second biggest world financial centre. Without a nuclear presence, can the EU keep its rung on the geopolitical ladder? What will the new spread of power at the heart of the EU signify if the UK were not around?

This may be a fictional setup, but article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty stipulates that 'every member state can decide to leave the EU according to its own constitutional rules''

You can watch the video here; it is available for seven days on the main Arte website. You can only watch it in French or German, and in certain countries for the moment. If you want to skip through to the babelians featuring in the video, click through to minute 20!

GENERATOR Youth Audiovisual forum in Strasbourg, 25-27 January 2013, cafebabel.com will be there

emauduit — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:59:00 +0100

Cafebabel.com is a partner of the NISI MASA event "GENERATOR - Youth Audiovisual Forum", that will take place at the end of January in Strasbourg.

Between January 25-27, 2013 NISI MASA is organizing GENERATOR - Youth Audiovisual Forum in Strasbourg, in partnership with cafebabel.com. At this occasion, around 120 participants aged between 18 and 35 will not only be debating the future of audiovisual culture in Europe along with experts and policy makers, but will also take part in a number of daily workshops.

Plenty of different activities are already planned!

A Kino Kabaret, where 40 adrenaline-driven filmmakers, will be on a movie making frenzy.
A scriptwriting marathon where participants will be guided in bringing their ideas closer to the screen by learning about cinematographic story telling through an intense submersion into the world of inspiration, confrontation and going crazy.
A film-criticism workshop, where an experienced team that has been involved in organizing the many Nisimazine workshops will be there to give the participants a crash practical course.
A workshop on genre films moderated by 7 Tape Productions, who will talk about the ways to start a genre based film project, concretely a horror movie – from casting to directing.
Culture management trainings provided by experienced trainers from our member associations.

There will also be debates and panels with European audiovisual professionals, experts and policy makers. The NISI MASA member associations will screen films resulted in their previous projects and they will present what they are planning next during a project fair.

cafebabel.com wins 'European Label of Languages 2012', rewarding multilingualism

Nabeelah — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:58:00 +0100

cafebabel.com is proud to announce we have won the European Label of Languages 2012. The annual award recognises innovative language-learning initiatives, which favour both the teaching and use of languages via unique methods.

The jury consists of national agencies across France who are in charge of the European programme for lifelong learning and education programme, and the prize is discerned by 'Europe Education and Training in France' (l’agence 2e2f).

This is our fourth prize in eighteen months and one especially dedicated to our translators and writers from all over the continent. On a daily basis, our six 'language editors' from Poland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK are in charge of commissioning, selecting and editing articles and translations across their six languages before publishing everything onsite. All of this content comes from volunteer contributors.

cafebabel.com's development office Juliette Addari will be picking up the prize at a special ceremony in Strasbourg on 13 December. 'Accents of Europe' (Accents of Europe), programme which runs on the national radio station RFI, will be screening a special edition dedicated to the award-winners on 14 December.

If that's not enough, you can also join us for our weekly editorial meeting; cafebabel.com editors were interviewed and presented in a little televised short screened on TV5 Monde on 8 December, for the programme 'Seven Days on the Planet' (7 jours sur la planète). Executive director Alexandre Heully also made a personal appearance on television to thank everyone for their hard work.

Multilingualism is our soul and without you all, none of this experiment would be possible. Bravo!

6 December, Paris: Join us for the last Christmas before the end of the world

Nabeelah — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:35:00 +0100

WHAT

We'll be brief - there is not much time. cafebabel.com warmly invites you to its annual Christmas party. Editors will be there, budget team, project coordinators, maybe some authors and translators and bloggers and photographers will pop in, as well as members of our young managing committee running the organisation - so it's your duty to come and say hi, and eat pie.

WHEN

6 December. That's a Thursday evening.

WHAT TIME

8pm. Don't come before that hour - we'll be busy tazering each other with our new Secret Santa gifts

WHERE

Paris HQ is at:

226 rue Saint Denis, 75002 Paris. Metro Strasbourg St Denis (line 4) or Reaumur Sebastopol (lines 4, 3)

It's the second courtyard in, and you'll see a blue door to your left, covered in ivy. Tatty cafebabel poster will be flying in the wind from the door. Third floor, on your left.

Still got questions?

Ask Emeline Mauduit, our new project coordinator and community manager from the south of France. She's got that sunny touch.

Telephone number of the office in case you're still struggling :

00 33 (0)1 42 33 45 79

This is the poster that Adrien, our graphic designer and webmaster, mustered for the event:

Goodbye Franck Biancheri, from the team at cafebabel.com

Nabeelah — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:32:00 +0100

On 30 October 2012, we lost Franck Biancheri, a man who we looked up to for his huge commitment and engagement to the European project, its media and civil society across the continent. In 1985 he founded the AEGEE European student's forum, and was an early initiator of the Erasmus European student exchange programme.

I met the 2003 Time magazine's European hero alongside Adriano Farano and Simon Loubris when we were first launching cafebabel.com in 2001. He was launching his own pan-European media project, Newropeans, before he created a European think tank called the European Laboratory of Political Anticipation (LEAP 2020) in 1998. Frank was very involved in politics too, as leader of the first trans-European party which planned to run in the 2009 European elections.

Frank was a very colourful and often provocative personality who knew how to make things happen.

It is with great sadness that we learn of his passing. Our thoughts are with his family and our wishes go to those persons who will continue to have the courage to keep his ideas alive.

Watch one of the latest Youtube interviews of Biancheri, in the summer of 2012; he talks about the importance of the new European generations and thinking about 'tomorrow'.

Alexandre Heully Executive director, cafebabel.com

Image: taken in January 2012/ wikimedia