Dataharvest is a great place to learn from experienced journalists and to network. On the day before the official programme of the conference starts, you have the opportunity to dive deep into a topic and acquire a new set of skills by participating in our three different full-day, hands-on masterclasses.
The masterclasses take place on Thursday, 28 May 2025.
If you want to learn where to find useful information and sources on the European Union, how you can track commodities such as oil and gas, and how you can investigate events such as floods and extreme heat with the help of satellite data (and some coding), book your masterclass ticket!
Please note that a special ticket is needed to attend a masterclass (on top of your conference ticket). Also, each masterclass is a full-day event (10 am – 5 pm), and you can attend only one masterclass at a time and can’t combine them (e.g., you cannot do the supply chain masterclass in the morning and the EU one in the afternoon).
This year, you can choose among the following activities (a detailed schedule and working programme of the masterclasses will be published closer to the event, but the trainings usually run from around 10 in the morning until 4 or 5 pm). Please note: All the masterclasses have a capacity of only 50.
How to investigate the EU
The European Union institutional system is notoriously complex, and investigating it might prove to be a headache – at least if you don’t know where to look. In this Masterclass, we aim to provide you with a number of very practical tips and tools to research what is cooking inside the European Commission, the EU Parliament, the Council of Member States, and even less-known but still powerful Court of Justice of the EU.
We will go over a number of public tools – the EU lobbyists register, the Court of Justice database, and the legislative documents available on the institutions’ websites – and will also discuss the different types of sources that could allow you to go much beyond the public realm.
We will, in parallel, discuss how to request documents from those institutions. The sessions will have a few exercises to ensure that every tip is ready to use. At the end of the Masterclass, you will be equipped to navigate the European institutional labyrinth and the microcosm surrounding it. On top of that, we will provide you with written material that you can use afterwards in your reporting.
The masterclass is not just for those wishing to report from and on Brussels, but for every journalist who could benefit from knowing where to find information about the EU.
Trainers: Jean Comte (MLex) and Pascal Hansens (Investigate Europe)
Jean Comte is a reporter specialized in EU affairs, and has been based in Brussels for more than 10 years. He currently covers competition policy for MLex, and previously worked with several French and English-speaking news outlets. In 2023, he published a book on lobbying in the EU.
Pascal Hansens joined Investigate Europe to help the team find their way through the maze of EU institutions and legislative processes, after years as a reporter specialising in EU legislative monitoring. He increasingly works on transparency and access to documents.
From ships to satellites: Investigating fossil fuel supply chains
This full-day session with Data Desk’s Sam Leon and Louis Goddard teaches cutting-edge techniques for illuminating fossil fuel supply chains and energy infrastructure projects. Using AIS and aviation data, customs datasets, satellite imagery, and more, participants uncover not only the international flow of oil and gas but also the movement of equipment, materials, and workers during the construction of major fossil fuel projects. Real investigative exercises help translate these tools into actionable reporting.
Trainers: Louis Goddard and Sam Leon (Data Desk)
Sam Leon and Louis Goddard founded Data Desk in 2022 to produce investigative research and analysis on the global oil and gas industry for NGOs, think tanks, and media organisations. They use industry data and market intelligence to uncover hidden risks in the fossil energy system.
Get satellite imagery to tell you what on earth is going on! Using code and other tools
Heat waves in Europe are increasing in frequency and intensity. People and economies are under pressure: extreme heat is costly for agriculture and deadly for people. At the same time, floods are among the most frequent and damaging natural disasters in Europe – yet understanding their true impact remains difficult.
In this session, participants will learn the skills necessary to make use of satellite images to analyse extreme heat or to systematically track flood damage. After a morning introduction to the topic, tools, and data/satellite imagery sources, participants will spend the afternoon working on one of two hands-on tracks:
Track 1: Flooding
Participants will learn how to use Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) to retrieve flood data manually and via the Copernicus EMS API, clean and structure the data, and calculate flood extent and impact across agriculture, infrastructure, ecosystems, and population areas. They will learn how to link impacted areas to the EU’s statistical regions (using NUTS classifications).
Track 2: Extreme heat
Participants will learn to navigate USGS Earth Explorer to find and download imagery for land surface temperature (LST) analysis. Using R for spatial analysis, they’ll identify which neighborhoods in their region are most affected by heat. They will also use auxiliary data to examine the impact of different land types on heat. Participants are welcome to bring their own socioeconomic or location data (e.g., nursing homes, kindergartens) for investigation.
We will assume you have some experience with data in spreadsheets, but you do not need any prior knowledge of coding in R or Python or satellite imagery. You will leave with the skills (and the data!) needed to work on a hyper-local or national stories about the effects of extreme heat and flooding. These methodologies will also help you create a blueprint for other investigations, which would make good use of satellite imagery.
Key skills learned:
Learn the basics of R (navigating RStudio, importing data, tidyverse, ggplot) and Python (using the pandas library to load, filter, and analyze data, combine datasets, and export your results);
Basics of geodata (file types, projections, NUTS system);
Where to access free, high-quality satellite imagery, and common limitations of using it in investigations
Navigating satellite imagery portals and databases for natural disasters (depends on the choice of Copernicus EMS or Landsat).
Trainers: Max Donheiser (Tagesspiegel), Konstantina Maltepioti (Reporters United); facilitated by Jonathan Stoneman (Arena for Journalism in Europe)
Max Donheiser is a data journalist at the Tagesspiegel Innovation Lab, where they combine data analysis and visualization to tell compelling stories about local, national, and international issues. Their reporting focuses particularly on how technology and infrastructure shape everyday life, alongside social and climate-related topics. Originally from the United States, Max relocated to Berlin in 2019 on a Fulbright fellowship. After working at the investigative, non-profit media house Correctiv, they joined Tagesspiegel.
Konstantina Maltepioti is a data journalist at Reporters United, an independent network of investigative journalists based in Greece. Her work focuses on political corruption, environmental issues, and human rights. She specialises in open-source investigations, scraping and data analysis.