The Lookout Station has collaborated with Euronews on a groundbreaking 360-degree video on wildfires in Portugal.
The Lookout Station provides scientific expertise to support digital storytelling on climate change and offers small grants to media houses that are interested in covering climate change topics through immersive storytelling.
Wherever requested, the team will help the media houses find story ideas as well as independent evidence-based advice from scientists and field experts. The media partners get full editorial independence in producing 360° videos and publishing the final projects through their own platforms and channels. If there are requests to check scientific facts, the Lookout Station offers help by gathering multiple scientists to give support so that the media partners can ensure accuracy in their reporting.
The story on Portugal with Euronews is the very first effort in the series, which will involve a number of media houses to produce immersive stories that focus on climate change and how the local communities are experiencing the impacts as well as coping with the challenges.
The following 360 video is what Euronews produced in cooperation with the Lookout Station:
'Deadly wildfires: a devastating year for Portugal' produced and published by euronews can be accessed on its website, youtube channel and facebook page.
Thomas Seymat, VR & immersive journalism editor, Euronews said: “The fires in Portugal have been one of the major European stories in 2017, affecting thousands, and forcing us to look at the potential impacts of climate change on our continent. We wanted to take our audience on the ground to help understand the situation better.”
"At EFI we take a scientific look at the root causes behind the fires. The effects of global warming, together with the expansion of unmanaged forest land due to depopulation of rural areas, create the perfect storm for catastrophic forest fires. The focus must be shifted from fire suppression to prevention and forest management that enhances the resilience of forests to global change. Developing a sustainable forest bioeconomy is crucial for such transformation”, said the EFI’s Director, Marc Palahí.
Read the press release here.