Representatives of NGO “Mladiinfo Montenegro” participated in the training, entitled “Climate Change and the Role of the Media”, organized by the NGO “Sjeverna Zemlja” at the Regional Business Center in Berane.
The training was organized as part of the activities of the Climate Change – Challenge of the Future project. The project is funded by the EU and co-financed by the Ministry of Public Administration.
At the outset, participants are familiar with the project and the activities that have been implemented, as well as those that have yet to be implemented. Within the project, a two-day training for NGOs was organized, training for the media, two manuals were issued and a short film on climate change and consequences was made.
Rita Barjaktarović, who is a member of the Working Group on Negotiation Chapter 27, referred the attendees chronologically to the activities of this Working Group. There have been a number of topics such as European and Montenegrin climate change policy, the role of the media in climate change reporting, past media practices in climate change reporting.
The attendees were briefed on the Paris Agreement and its provisions, as well as how those provisions will affect the citizens of Montenegro. Mirko Jakovljević spoke about the ways in which the media can contribute to raising awareness of people and the impact they can make.
Participants are better acquainted with the role of the media in reporting on the topic as well as how to inform and educate readers when it comes to environmental topics.
Some of the conclusions are that the Montenegrin media should establish environmental newsrooms and work to educate both journalists and editors. One of the ideas that came up during the training was the organization of a joint roundtable on climate change and environmental protection and bringing together representatives of the public and non-governmental sectors as well as the media.
The participants also agree that the media should act as a prevention, proactively and educationally, to be the initiator and catalyst, and not just react when the damage has already been done.
