Cooperation of Ecologists and Media Essential

27 March 2006

The cooperation between the environmentalist groups and the media in providing information to the public about environmental protection was the topic discussed in the workshop held on March 24 in Slavonski Brod, held by representatives of Osijek Greens, on invitation by BEUZ (Brod Environmental Association �Zemlja�).

"We aim to use positive cooperation between associations and the media, with the emphasis on the education of associations, local self-governments and the media and manner of presentation of environmental problems and distribution of those problems in the public, which remains badly informed or completely uninformed�, said Ljiljanka Matos-Svoboda, the leader of the workshop, and emphasized the necessity to differentiate between the sensationalist and objective reporting on environmental topics.

The one-day workshop was organized under the Eco-Initiatives project, implemented by BEU Zemlja, with financial support by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Urbanism and Construction. The workshop caused great interest in all sectors, so that 30 participants got introduced to the principles of environmental journalism, the need for quality training of members of environmental association for public and transparent work.

The workshop also discussed the need for joint action and cooperation of the local media and environmental associations on implementation of legislation on waste and waste-management, and emphasized the urgent need to solve the issue of city dump in Slavonski Brod, partially financed by the Environmental Protection Fund.

At the end of the workshop, the next event was announced � the marking of the April 22, Earth Day, organized this year by BEUZ. This year, in addition to the representatives of Croatian environmental associations, the presence of state institutions� experts and artists was announced. Slavonski Brod was chosen to organize this year�s celebrations in memory of Djuro Pilar, the first Croatian geologist.