What an unforgettable event!

This wasn’t another sit-and-listen conference. It was a collaborative space. At the heart of the summit was the “all teach, all learn” principle. The experts were the participants – sharing first-hand experiences from their innovative projects and experiments.

The newsrooms were presenting their projects and prototypes developed through the PluPro initiative during which they received microgrants and mentoring to test new products and services. They spoke about design thinking, building closer relationships with audiences, and finding new ways to sustain their work – from revenue diversification and subscription models to podcasts, videos, newsletters, AI tools, and smarter use of social media.

It was all about learning from what worked – and what didn’t – in various formats.

All images © Transitions/Tomáš Princ

See the full Photo Gallery here

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What did the participants say

“The format you chose — which encouraged networking and genuine connection from the very beginning — was outstanding. The diversity of participants, the constant discussions, the openness to sharing both experiences and failures — all of this made me reflect on what I’ve done similarly, what I could improve, and what I can learn from others.”

"The Media Innovation Summit in Prague was one of the most practical and insightful forums for journalists in Europe. Lots of takeaways from news operators who are walking the talk."

"The most valuable part for me was realizing that many of our challenges are similar, but the ways they are addressed in different countries and media are so diverse and inspiring. The networking component and small-group discussions were particularly meaningful — everyone was deeply involved, and these conversations helped us take away the maximum value from the experience."

"Networking and conversations with colleagues that inspire trust and hope that journalism and the media industry have a future built on collaboration and knowledge."

"For me, the biggest value was the sense of community — a feeling that we are not alone in our challenges and that our shared experience can shape stronger, more sustainable media. You leave this Summit not just with contacts, but with renewed energy to keep doing what matters."

"Amazing and insightful experience, full of inspiring people and great energy. The small clusters really encouraged meaningful conversations and a great atmosphere."

"I’m especially thankful for the atmosphere that helped everyone find like-minded people, exchange ideas, or even disagree in a productive way. The networking setup and the way you supported participants to make sure no one felt left out were simply brilliant — everyone had the chance to connect and talk to anyone at any time."

“Amazing. This was one of the best events I have been in years.”

About the
Media Innovation Summit

European independent media face tough challenges – from financial sustainability to getting audiences’ attention and rebuilding trust. This summit was designed for independent newsrooms working on new products and experimenting with ways to stay relevant and boost their resilience.

The summit was more than just an event – it was a gold mine of innovative ideas and insights about how to create journalism that is meaningful, user-driven, and future-ready.

Together, we created a place to:

Learn from peers who used design thinking to research, prototype, and test new approaches;
Explore how innovation can strengthen independent journalism across Europe;
Experience best practices applying design thinking for resilience and sustainability;
Connect with an informed community of journalists from 40 media outlets; and
Collaborate to strengthen the European independent media community.

Together, we have built a space where independent media could learn from each other, inspire one another, and grow stronger for the challenges ahead.

More practical info

Keynote Speaker

Peter Erdelyi

Center for Sustainable Media

Peter Erdelyi is the founding director of the Center for Sustainable Media and a Budapest-based media executive with more than 25 years of experience.

In his keynote, he argued that journalism’s path forward may not be about scaling up but sharpening focus: building smaller, smarter operations that serve specific communities with clarity and real utility. Because, he suggested, sustainability comes not from reaching everyone, but from mattering deeply to someone.

Read the keynote as an article in the Transitions Magazine

1.5 days filled with activities,
dialogue and focus on
what's working

Full Agenda

ignite talks

Dare to Try New Things – It’s Worth It:

In a changing media landscape, innovation keeps independent journalism resilient, strong, and relevant

Maris Hellrand,
Hiiu Leht (EE)

What did Maris say about the summit:

"The summit was a very professional but simultaneously warm gathering of truly passionate people in journalism. I enjoyed the opportunity to make these new connections all over Europe and am still in awe for the dedication of these smart people. I enjoyed the kind nudging that got us all out from the comfort zone and led to meaningful and useful conversations."

Sabrina Vaizer,
Rubryka (UA)

What did Sabrina say about the summit:

"The Media Innovation Summit is an event where incredible experts from across Europe come together to share their experience and spark new ideas. It’s all about meaningful conversations, practical insights, and a powerful boost of energy for the year ahead. I’m truly glad that Rubryka had the chance to take part in such an important event shaping the future of journalism."

João Ribeiro,
Shifter (PT)

What did João say about the summit:

"The Media Summit was a unique opportunity to meet other independent media collectives like ours — usually outside our bubbles and networks; to connect with people who face the same challenges and struggles, who think like us and who share the same hopes and ambitions, in a field and in a time that so often makes us feel alone."

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About the
PluPro Media Project

The summit was the culmination of a microgrant and capacity-building program supporting over 50 local independent media outlets across Europe within the PluPro Project.

Through capacity-building, design-learning innovation, and a shared repository of case studies, the program fosters a culture of local media innovation.

PluPro is co-funded by the European Commission (Creative Europe), Limelight Foundation, Vereniging Veronica, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (Transition Program) and jointly managed by Journalismfund Europe (Belgium) and Transitions (Czech Republic).

What is design thinking?

Design thinking is a way of solving problems by focusing on the real needs and experiences of people. It begins with understanding users through research and empathy, then moves through stages of brainstorming, prototyping, and testing.

This iterative, creative process can be used not only to develop new products but also to design services, workflows, and strategies. The goal is always the same: to create practical, effective, and user-friendly solutions that genuinely address human needs.

Why should newsrooms care about design thinking?

Design Thinking helps newsrooms stay relevant and connected to their audiences. Instead of deciding for the audience, journalists learn from the audience – through empathy, research, and rapid testing of ideas.

By using design-thinking methods, media outlets can:

Discover real audience needs and create journalism that addresses them;
Design new storytelling formats, services, or platforms that resonate with diverse communities;
Innovate with less risk by prototyping and iterating before full-scale launches;
Build trust and stronger relationships by involving the public in shaping the news experience; and
Identify sustainable business models that support financial stability and editorial independence.

This approach enables media outlets to move beyond simply delivering information and toward meaningful, user-driven journalism that strengthens democracy and civic engagement.

What project areas were discussed at the summit?

The summit highlighted the diverse, innovative projects developed by participating newsrooms during the PluPro Project. Many of these initiatives fall into common areas, including:

launching/redesigning an existing website or creating a new website section;
developing video content;
launching/redesigning a newsletter;
monetizing a media product;
developing and promoting a podcast;
developing audience research tools and mechanisms; and
using AI tools.

Through peer learning and open dialogue, participants shared their experiences with these projects to inspire new ideas and foster resilience in independent media.

Who was attending?

Nearly 40 European small- and medium-size newsrooms were represented at the summit. We spent almost two days with reporters, editors, and mentors from across the continent eager to share experience and learn from each other about innovation and design thinking in the media industry.

See the list of represented newsrooms here

Read about the power of design thinking from the newsrooms' representatives

“The most valuable part of this project was discovering how eager our readers are to engage when we make participation simple, relevant, and respectful of their time. Collecting over 70,000 responses in just one month not only gave us unprecedented insights into our audience, but also proved that trust and dialogue can be built directly within journalism itself.”

adam vincze

Nyugat.hu (Hungary)

“We tested the “Content Transformer,” an AI-powered tool that automates transforming one piece of content into multiple formats – such as social media posts, news articles, and scripts – while preserving a consistent editorial style. This innovation helps our newsroom reduce manual workload and preparation time for short formats by more than 50%, ensuring speed and quality without compromising voice.”

Natalie Hanzha

Makes Sense (Ukraine)

“We developed and tested a time-efficient weekly news format that helps us deliver the week’s most important stories faster and smarter. By offering comprehensive Bulgarian and international coverage, we gave our audience the flexibility to choose how they stay informed – through a detailed modular newsletter on our website, a concise news summary via email, or an on-demand podcast.”

Aleksandar Nikolov

den.fm (Bulgaria)

“In this project we developed a prototype to organize and reuse our multimedia archive from investigations: videos, photos, graphics, and maps... that until now had no structured catalog. The tool allows us to recover and adapt existing materials, streamlining our internal workflows and enabling faster, more relevant publishing cycles on social media and new productions. Our prototype showed us how structuring and reusing our own archive can streamline newsroom workflows and give new life to past investigations.”

Antonio Delgado

DATADISTA (Spain)

“We tested text-to-audio conversion and also implemented a plugin for automatic text conversion from Albanian to English. This helps us reach an international audience and serves communities in need, as well as increasing the likelihood that audiences will listen to longer texts."

Valmora Gogo

Gogo.al (Albania)

“We designed templates specifically for Instagram which unlocked organic growth for our local publication. The three month project validated that Instagram can be a solid distribution channel, to complement the newsletter.”

Alex Enășescu

Iașul Nostru (Romania)

“We have created a new website for our print weekly paper, that now appropriately highlights the quality reporting we publish. While new, it ties in visually with our print design and thus appeals to both current and new readers. The new interface and design will encourage audiences to discover our projects and facilitate subscription payments, in order for the paper to become more resilient.”

María Elorza

Woxx (Luxemburg)

“We are literally ‘voicing the TEXTy’ :) We have used AI tool to clone the voice of our journalist and started to voice our best Ukrainian articles. Our podcast ‘Voicing the TEXTY’ is available on Spotify and Apple podcasts. Just voiced-with-AI articles and nothing else.”

Dmytro Kolesnyk

Texty.org.ua (Ukraine)

"In our project, we redesigned our website using the Design Thinking approach that was relatively new to our newsroom. It helped us move away from assumptions and instead focus on real user needs. We shifted the website's role from a basic information platform to a strategic tool for community building and fundraising."