Some dreams do come true. It all began in January with a FilmEU mobility grant coordinated by the Journalism & Magazine Lab (J-MagLab) at CICANT, the research centre of Lusófona University. Carla Rodrigues Cardoso, Ana Figueiras and Ilo Alexandre, who are also professors in the Department of Communication Sciences at ECATI, welcomed Alessandro Nani from Tallinn University (Estonia) and Marissa Aroy from IADT (Ireland). Their application, “Interconnected Journalism: reconnecting people to and through the media”, was awarded a FilmEU Mobility Grant, opening the door to collaboration between partners in the European consortium, this time in the fields of Media, Communication and Journalism.

That mobility programme concluded with an ambitious plan. To organise three Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) across the three institutions under the umbrella of the Interconnected Journalism Project, bringing together 18 students, six from each partner institution, throughout the 2026/27 academic year. The goal is to produce a long-form multimedia interconnected feature, beginning in Portugal (pre-production), continuing in Estonia (production), and concluding in Ireland (post-production). The project will explore “The Age of Autonomy of Young Europeans”, drawing on examples from the three participating countries.

The first BIP concludes on November 30th. From October 19 to 24, the in-person week took place at Lusófona University. It was an extraordinary start to the adventure, with rich and rewarding interactions between students and teachers. Alessandro Nani and Marissa Aroy returned to Lisbon as part of the teaching team, but this time we also counted with Diog O’Connell from IADT.

The newsroom was divided into three sections, each focusing on a different aspect of the topic: perspectives on the concept of autonomy; politics and economics; and mental health and well-being. Each section comprises six students, two from each country, with the teams formed randomly at the students’ own suggestion after a morning of brainstorming.

Alongside the intensive work of refining concepts and planning the project, the students also benefited from contributions by journalists Beatriz Dias (Divergente) and Tiago Sigorelho (Gerador), as well as consultancy from journalist and writer Patrícia Reis. There was still time to enjoy a social programme in Lisbon’s Bairro Alto neighbourhood, with traditional Portuguese food and fado performances.

The Interconnected Journalism Project, which grew out of a developing concept at J-MagLab that promotes a holistic and empathetic approach to journalism, could hardly have got off to a better start. All expectations have been exceeded, and enthusiasm is running high. Stay tuned for more updates!