Focus on the Environment

Building media skills for non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers was a key focus of the project and is part of a strategy for improving the flow of information between the NGO and media sectors. To that end, participating journalists took part in classroom-based training as well as awareness-raising seminars hosted by local NGOs. The training was meant to be "hands-on"; the journalists took part in various exercises, held debates, went on site visits, and reviewed environmental reports. These activities were designed to support their efforts to write campaigning pieces for the newspapers or short documentaries for television.

Cognisant of the fact that there is a lot of science to learn, especially for journalists coming from a background in the humanities, organisers drew on iLearn - the BBC WST's online learning system - to offer courses in environmental issues for journalists taking part in the Focus workshops. The learning content could be accessed (in English) by journalists - each of whom had been provided with a username and password - in their own time and at their own pace. Two courses were designed, one for print journalists and the other for those working in the television medium. Each was made up of a number of modules, or chapters, that take learners through topics such as: the principles of 'beat' reporting (covering a specialist subject), key environmental issues, understanding science and scientists, dealing with academics, reporting numbers, reporting risks, mounting a newspaper campaign, and making a TV documentary.

In addition to the training programme, the European partners worked to strengthen TERI's capacity to offer specialised training in environmental reporting; to support country-wide awareness initiatives; and to disseminate programmes and research materials. As a first step, research staff at TERI prepared in-depth subject briefing papers for each of the states where Focus workshops were held; these papers (as well as other resources, such as a glossary of environmental terms and a code of conduct for environmental journalists) are accessible through the project website.

One key output to emerge from the above-described capacity-building process was a film series. In September 2006, 18 short documentary films created by participating journalists, camera operators, and editors across India began airing on Doordashan News' Terraview programme. Seeking to identify key stories on critical environmental issues in each of their regions, the journalists created these 5-minute films for weekly broadcast in English on Sunday mornings, at 9:55am with a further transmission in Hindi on Sunday afternoons at 4:55pm. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being used as a tool for bringing the films to a global audience: Visitors to a dedicated page on the BBC WST website may access the films freely.

Environment.

The film series is designed to raise awareness amongst - and perhaps to inspire action on the part of - members of the Indian public. To cite one particular example, "Carbon City" - the first of the 18 films - was filmed and produced in the Indian city of Bangalore, known as 'The Garden City' and also the heart of India's new 'silicon valley' region. The filmmaker contends that over the past 5 years the software and service sector boom in the city has led to a sharp rise in vehicle traffic in the city, resulting in soaring levels of air pollution and increasing numbers of people suffering from respiratory disorders. "While city authorities have introduced some measures to combat the problem, they are widely seen as weak and ineffective. With more radical policies, the film concludes, it won't be too long before the famous 'Garden City' is renamed 'Carbon City'."

Two participants in Focus on the Environment - a TV documentary team from Dehradun and a newspaper journalist from Pune - received prizes of digital cameras for their outstanding features on environmental issues. The award ceremony marked the opening of the EU-sponsored Environmental Projects Fair organised in parallel with the International Conference on Climate Change.