Getting the message across

Media Environment and Citizens

1st International Workshop on Media, Environment, and Citizens, June 18-22,1998

The first-ever global workshop on "Media, Environment, and Citizens" will bring participants from all continents to Denmark as the first step of a proposed five-year programme.

The initiative is aimed at bridging an ever-widening gap between the people at the cutting edge of environmental work and the people who report on it.

World-wide Collaboration

The host of the workshop is INFORSE. Participants will represent the media, NGOs, governments, and other organizations. The workshop is being organised in co-operation with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation).

One set of questions to be raised is:

· What responsibility do the media have to report on environmental concerns and developments?
· Is there a public service obligation and a duty to educate?
· How can those who work with the environment gain access to the communicators?
· How can the popular imagination be fuelled?

Yet another thread:

· How can environmental workers use new technologies to communicate better?
· What status do environmental themes have in today's onslaught of information?

And another:

· The newer media allow the dissemination of insight and information. How can they be best used to share global knowledge at a local level? What specific tools can be developed? This area includes educational tools for young people and adults.

Lots of questions. The objective of the Workshop is to find answers and to foster the development of practical skills as well as to show how media and environmental workers can cooperate without sacrificing their respective needs and interests. The ultimate goal is to give local citizens a global voice.

The 1st International Workshop on Media, Environment, and Citizens, June 18th-22nd, has been timed to take place just before the Pan-European Conference for Environment Ministers. The workshop which will be held at the European Film College in Ebeltoft, provides an opportunity for voices from the grassroots to be heard.