Aruba’s perspective on climate change was represented at the second Dutch Journalism Festival in Deventer, where media professional Oriana Wouters joined a Kingdom-wide panel on climate journalism.
Putting local climate impacts in context
The festival, held September 18 and 19, brought together more than 1,000 journalists, media professionals and other participants. A Caribbean delegation attended at the invitation of Fonds BJP, the Dutch fund for investigative journalism.
Wouters joined Rajesh Chintaman of Sint Maarten, Radinka Ustasia of Bonaire, Maarten van Gestel and Emma van Bergeijk of the Netherlands for a discussion moderated by journalist and author Milouska Meulens.
The panel examined how reporters can explain a climate crisis whose effects are not experienced equally across the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Participants discussed shared challenges, professional approaches and the importance of connecting climate reporting to conditions in each community.
Why Caribbean environmental reporting matters
For small Caribbean islands, environmental reporting helps residents understand how broad climate trends connect with local questions such as coastal resilience, habitat protection, water management and sustainable infrastructure. It can also ensure that island experiences are included when climate policy and public priorities are discussed across the Kingdom.
The festival included a separate session on mental health and peer support in journalism, along with programming on local reporting, artificial intelligence, journalistic ethics and professional cooperation.
Aruba’s participation formed part of a broader exchange between Caribbean and European Dutch media professionals. The climate panel highlighted the value of locally grounded reporting when communities face different risks, resources and environmental pressures.
Source: This article is based on Aruba News’ report on Caribbean participation in the Dutch Journalism Festival.