Dataharvest 2026 - the European Investigative Journalism Conference

Want to see change from space and turn it into an interactive story? In this hands-on session, participants will use Copernicus Browser to locate areas of interest, upload their borders, and export high-resolution images. These images will then be turned into interactive sliders in Flourish to clearly show environmental changes, infrastructure expansion, or land-use transformations over time.

Using a real investigative example from a mountain area in Greece that was untouched in 2022 and became an active wind farm construction zone by 2025, participants will see how this workflow avoids common challenges, simplifies the process, and produces accurate visual comparisons.

The session also shows how before-and-after sliders can guide field reporting and support verification, helping journalists confirm that what is observed on the ground matches remote analysis. By the end of the session, participants will have learned a practical, reproducible workflow to turn satellite imagery into accurate visual comparisons that strengthen investigative storytelling and field verification, without requiring complex satellite analysis skills.

Prerequisites:

- To attend this session, no prior knowledge is required. Familiarity with QGIS, Copernicus Browser, or Flourish is helpful but not necessary.

- Tools: Participants should create a free Copernicus Browser account: https://www.copernicus.eu/en

- Participants should create a free Flourish account: https://app.flourish.studio/login

Optional: install QGIS for further exploration of satellite imagery (not required for the workflow demonstrated): https://qgis.org/download/