“Reporting on Climate Change by Mass Media”, a two-day media training aimed at journalists and media content specialists covering environmental, public, economic and other subjects, was held on December 22-23. The event was organized by ADWISE Consulting in the frame of UNDP-GCF Armenia’s National Adaptation Plan project.

The event aimed at raising awareness among media representatives on climate change and climate change adaptation related issues, particularly current and forecasted climate change risks, impacts, as well as adaptation solutions in Armenia, and encourage active and exoteric reporting of these topics.

“Raising awareness on climate change and particularly climate change adaptation related issues is a major and an important component of the Armenia’s National Adaptation Plan project. Many people still don’t fully understand the factor of climate change, don’t grasp the scale of its impact and don’t assess the impact of climate change happening today on future generations. Especially for a country with a high vulnerability to climate change, like Armenia, this information is very vital. In this regard, the role of media and media content creators is very important. General population mainly receives information from the media, while professional analysis, expert assessments or information from specialized websites are not very accessible to the public. Thus, it is very important to ensure the high awareness of media representatives on climate change issues, to assist them in the process of disseminating that information to different segments of the society in an accessible and exoteric way”, said UNDP “Climate, environment, resilience” Head Hovhannes Ghazaryan.

During the two-day training, participants received information on climate change and climate change adaptation related issues,  problems and solutions existing in Armenia in the context of climate change, and got acquainted with modern approaches, practices, and case studies of reporting on climate change. Harutyun Alpetyan, a circular economics researcher at the Hagopian Environmental Center of the American University of Armenia, Vardan Melikyan, an expert on climate change, forestry, biodiversity and sustainable development, as well as Nune Melkumyan, a marketing and communications expert and journalist facilitated the training.

“Dear participants, guests, organizers, on behalf of the Minister of Environment and the Ministry, as the coordinator of the UNDP National Adaptaiotn Plan project, we welcome this initiative and wish you all fruitful work during these two days. Such courses have an important role as they contribute to the development of a more professional approach towards climate change related issues in general and their coverage in particular. In 2021, the Ministry too has quite interesting programs aimed at raising awareness on environmental issues, both through TV and other platforms; we expect an active participation and support of interested organizations and individuals in the implementation of these programs,” said the Press Secretary of the RA Minister of Environment Edgar Arakelyan, emphasizing the need to ensure awareness on climate change related issues among policy makers, as well as all members of the society.

Participant of the event will as well have a unique opportunity to take part in a contest for the best articles covering climate change related issues. Selected works will be awarded. Deadline for submission is March 23, 2021 results will be publish in April of 2021. Details and rules of participation can be found at http://climateworkshop.press/.

“Climate change is not simply an environmental issue, it is has a great economic impact. Being journalists, you have probably noticed the attention this issue receives in the most developed countries of the world. This training is quite informative, in addition, it provides an opportunity to apply the knowledge you will gain during these two days in the frame of the competition, thus transferring it to the practical field. Armenia, having an active participation in the Climate Change Convention, implements many programs in both rural and urban communities, particularly in the fields of energy saving and renewable energy development. In recent years, more attention and financing is aimed at climate change adaptation. The effectiveness of all these programs also depends on your critical and professional coverage, thus your participation in this training is very important” said UNDP Climate Change Programme Coordinator Diana Harutyunyan.

The event hosted over 30 media representatives covering various public sectors in Yerevan and the provinces.

Highlights of the training are avialable here.

Training materials can be found here.