The goal of reaching different media and engage local journalists was achieved mostly through the engagement of journalists from different parts of the country and treating local environmental topics giving visibility to local problems and engaging local stakeholders in the process – journalists from Skopje, Veles, and Shtip covered local stories, ranging from air pollution, waste, soil pollution, and food safety, to water and health. The stories used different media tools – storytelling through photos, video, audio. The story “Wild Settlements – Silent Hell for Ecology” by Borjan Bojchev was chosen for the best story, which was awarded a laptop.
Although Prilep and Strumica were also parts of the country that media were targeted in, the journalists did not finalize the process of producing stories, because there were challenges that presented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so four of the journalists (two form radio station in Prilep, and two from tv-stations in Strumica and Veles) canceled their participation in the ending of the mentoring process. The journalists were burdened by the work dynamic in their community and the lack of staff they face in the media they work for, as well as the pressure on local institutions and other stakeholders from managing the COVID-19 pandemic, making the whole process very difficult and the task hard to accomplish. However, they remain part of the network and are trained to tackle environmental problems through the principles of the Aarhus convention and will continue collaborating and sharing information and experiences through the Club of Friends of Aarhus, give visibility of environmental topics on a local level through their media in future and inspire citizens to engage in environmental matters on a local level.