A pandemic that has become endemic, the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine and the attendant economic turbulence. In a world that is essentially a global village, the risk and the dire consequences affect us all and global solutions emanate from local solutions. Informed local communities are thus critical for building thriving communities that then contribute to a better world. The role of a vibrant, viable and dynamic media in helping communities address local challenges as they globalize the local and localize the global best practices cannot be gainsaid. The EAST Festival 2022 therefore aims to ask how journalism in East Africa can sustain productive public conversations, nurture responsible civic responsibilities and, most importantly, help the citizenry address challenges they face and seize the opportunities they have. The festival will celebrate redefined roles of journalism in the region, interrogate media structures and routines in the wake of the complex and disrupted media ecology and explore the emergent storytelling that innovatively involve communities.