Solidarity-Oriented Local Action for Civic Empowerment

Objective

The SOLACE project addresses the urgent need for more ethical, inclusive, and impactful representations of homelessness in journalism. It builds on recent advances in solidarity journalism to co-create a new civic media model with, rather than for, unhoused communities. By combining participatory storytelling, collaborative newsroom practice, and longitudinal civic impact evaluation, SOLACE investigates how journalism can shift public narratives from blame and charity toward structural causes and collective action. The project will be carried out across two host institutions—CU Boulder in the U.S. and Masaryk University in Czechia—under the mentorship of leading experts in civic media, newsroom sociology, and solidarity journalism. During a 18-month Global Fellowship, the researcher will conduct a three-wave media intervention involving co-created reporting, cross-sectoral newsroom partnerships, and a panel survey measuring changes in public perceptions, solidarity, and civic engagement in relation to people experiencing homelessness. SOLACE contributes to multiple disciplines—journalism and media studies, media ethics, communication, or social work and policy—while engaging unhoused people, journalists, NGOs, educators, and policymakers through open-access tools, workshops, and a practitioner toolkit for adapting solidarity journalism to local contexts. Its training plan integrates leadership, policy engagement, ethical research methods, and public communication. Aligned with Horizon Europe priorities on inclusion, social justice, and democratic resilience, SOLACE empowers vulnerable communities to shape public discourse and strengthens journalism’s role in advancing civic solidarity.