Pavel Antonov
- advocacy
- Human Rights
- communication
- climate
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Type of expert
Facilitator
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Age
51 years
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Country of residence
Bulgaria
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Languages
Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, English, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian
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Gender
Male
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Availability
Anytime
About me
I study, pursue and safeguard ethical watchdog journalism and democratic participation online. My recent research includes online pressure against human/gender/environmental advocates; the shrinking space for democratic participation; civil society’s role against transborder corruption; green economy and ecosystem services; and the tobacco industry’s interference in society and the media.
Since 1999, I have conceptualised, designed, planned, organised, moderated and contributed knowledge and expertise to over 50 workshops, seminars, training courses and other facilitated work processes – most of them of regional, EU and international scope. The bulk of my work in this field has comprised training and capacity building of journalists and civil society representatives. Recently, topical fields have included: digital and environmental rights and policies; tobacco control; toxic waste disposal; ecosystem services; green economy; UN Sustainable Development Goals; gender and women’s rights; anti-corruption investigations and data journalism, among others. As a moderator and trainer, my approach is custom designed for the particular purposes of the respective process or project – its purpose, target group(s), thematic or geographical focus, and addressing the problem of professional needs to be solved.
While I employ a wide variety of methodological and training approaches, my preference is for practical, result-oriented ones. I strive to connect educational, theoretical and knowledge-generation work with hands-on work in curricula. I prioritise participatory approaches where participants learn from each other's experiences and exchange knowledge. I am committed to diversity, sensitivity and equality, and adhere to APC's ground-breaking gender-evaluation methods.
My skills
I can:
- Plan systematically.
- Pay attention on method and detail.
- Listen carefully.
- Do not jump to conlusions.
- Understand opposing stands.
- Analyse information.
- Present arguments.
- Hear others.
- Analyse process.
- Draw conclusions.
- Sing and play guitar.
- Use every chance to learn something new.
- Make work fun and vice versa.
- Drive so that everyone gets there on time and safe.
Why you should work with me
My preferred method for training environmental journalists was crafted in co-operation with experienced journalists and trainers from the Climate News Network, UK. A typical workshop would last from two to four days. The working process for a group of 13-20 participants mixed three key ingredients:
- Learning – acquiring new thematic knowledge in the selected topic area(s);
- Training – developing ethical reporting, investigative, source checking and story-writing skills;
- Reporting – practical investigation, information-gathering, field reporting, interviewing and story writing.
As course leader and senior trainer with rich experience and knowledge I was in charge of facilitating the process proactively. As part of the training component, professional and ethical norms, skills and techniques would be presented, discussed and agreed among participants, based on shared experiences and needs. Participants obtain new knowledge from leading experts from academia, civil society, business or government, who are asked to provide scientifically-grounded information, facts, science and analyses of the selected learning topic(s). As part of the reporting component, participants would investigate one or more specific story cases, interview sources, collect different, and sometimes opposing points of view, interpretations and data.
By the workshop’s end participants deploy collected information in real stories which they structure and, if possible, draft on the spot. Facilitators give them individual guidance and feedback on improving their stories. Participants are expected to finish and publish these articles.
My work experiences
An exemplary preparation phase of a typical professional training workshop for journalists under my facilitation would involve:
· setting the thematic focus, purpose and expected outcomes, as well as the participants' profile, demography and geography;
· designing a detailed curriculum, outlining the contents, learning and practical process of the programme/workshop;
· selecting a most suitable venue where participants could easily participate in a learning process while performing hands-on research, investigation, information-gathering or reporting on the selected topic(s);
· identifying the most suitable channels to reach the desired target group, recruitment and selection of participants;
· logistical preparation of the workshop/programme or close coordination with the organising partner;
· preliminary communication with participants to maximise the effectiveness of their participation.
Recent workshops and programmes I have moderated include:
· Imagining an internet that serves environmental justice, online workshop at the global Internet Governance Forum, November 2020
· Administrative pressure against NGOs and how to deal with It, round table at BlueLink’s Action Time Forum 2020, November 2020
· Connecting information technology to environment protection policies, workshop at the global RightsCon online, June 2020
· Introduction to tobacco control for Bulgarian journalists, with Smoke-free Life Coalition and WHO, in Borovets, Bulgaria, November 2019
· Covering the extractive and energy industry in Albania, with Ecoprojects and EuropeAid, in Tirana, May 2019
· European and Russian journalists’ workshop on toxic waste, St Petersburg, Russia, January 2019
My education & training
2013 - PhD, Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, UK
1999 - MA Journalism and Mass Communications, Sofia University, Bulgaria
1998 - MSc Environmental Sciences and Policy, Central European University, Hungary
1991 - First English Language School of Sofia, Bulgaria
My references
Zsolt Bauer
Branch Manager, The Climate Reality Project Europe
Excellent moderator, professional journalist, enthusiastic environmentalist. I had the pleasure to work with Pavel for several years in the REC - he was a very precise person and on top of it a good coach. In the last few years we worked together in smaller - climate related projects. Last but not least he has a very good personality and can entertain friends, colleagues and participants with his songs and guitar play.
Paul Brown
Former Environment Correspondent, The Guardian
Pavel and I have worked together for more than ten years on different projects, mostly to do with training journalists in various European and Central Asian countries. He is a good organiser, a linguist, an excellent journalist and a well-informed person.
Olga Miltcheva
Assistant Director, Environment at International Air Transport Association (IATA
Pavel was a particularly creative and well-organised manager, highly appreciated by all the members of the team. He had the capacity to motivate his colleagues and to set up a good team spirit, which was crucial for the final product. It was a personal as well as a professional pleasure to work with Pavel and I really hope I could do that again somewhere in the world.
Jan Haverkamp
Senior expert nuclear energy and energy policy at Greenpeace Nederland
I have worked with Pavel since around 10 year. I have gotten to know him as dedicated, precise and above all reliable. When Pavel commits, he does. Another strong characteristic is his positive attitude while assessing situations extremely realistically - a rare treat in the Southern Balkans.