Training Retreat Organized by Media Association for Peace on the Role of Environmental Peace Journalism

Under its Media, Peace and Environment program and within the Environmental Media, Peace Building and Conflict Transformation project, Media Association for Peace-MAP organized a training retreat entitled “The Role of Peace Journalism in Environmental Governance and Sustainable Development in Lebanon” in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Program (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and supported by the European Union (EU). This 4-day retreat took place in the Evangelical Conference Center-Dhour El Choueir from April 6th till April 9th 2015.

More than 15 journalism, media and international affairs students from different Lebanese universities participated in the training that hosted more 15 experts, journalists and researchers in the environmental field.

Peace Journalism and the Environment are two concepts that were brought about in the retreat that was launched by Vanessa Bassil, Founder and Director of MAP, where she discussed the importance of this first of its kind project in Lebanon that aims to reach positive peace through addressing indirect violence, represented in the structure and culture of the society. Bassil also pointed out that the goal of this retreat is to encourage participants, who are MAP members, to engage in Environmental Journalism and form a pressure group to find solutions for pressing environmental problems in Lebanon that might cause or result from conflicts. Following that, Yehia El Amine, MAP member, presented MAP monitoring report that tracked Environmental Journalism in Lebanon, pointing to the lack of relevant articles and reports in addressing environmental issues.

During the second day, Antoine Abou Moussa, Environmental Consultant, board member in T.E.R.R.E Liban Association and president of the Rotaract Club of Sahel Metn talked about the most pressing environmental threats in Lebanon today. Then, Alaa Bachir, communication officer at IndyAct, presented a number of environmental activities organized and implemented by his organization.. On the other hand, Mohammad Ayoub, Executive Director of Nahnoo, discussed with the participants the importance of public spaces in the peace building process. Last but not least, Mohammad Al Baba, council member at the Municipality of Saida, talked about the role that his municipality played in preserving the environment in the city.

Sessions during the third day focused mostly on environmental journalism where journalists from various media outlets exposed the current situation of environmental media in Lebanon. Nathalie Eklimos, journalist at Al Joumhouriya newspaper, tackled the issue of environmental reporting and social responsibility. In addition, Pascale Azar, journalist at Annahar newspaper, reflected upon her own experience in covering environmental violence and how it can be used as a pressure tool on decision makers and the effect of such coverage on citizens. Moreover, the journalists Veronique Abou Ghazaleh, analyzed the relationship between environmental journalism, peace and sustainable development and clarified the intersection between them. Finally, Bassam Al Kantar, journalist at Al Akhbar newspaper, talked about the challenges and opportunities of environmental journalism taking concrete examples as a reference.

The fourth day of the training retreat was a summary of what was presented in the previous days. Also, in an attempt to find solutions, Paul Abi Rached, Founder and President of T.E.R.R.E Liban and Lebanon Eco Movement tried to bring about solutions for environmental threats taking The Nahmeh Landfill campaign and the Closing of Sadd Janneh as real examples. Furthermore, Pierre El Haddad, President of SEPT (Save Energy Plant Trees) and producer and anchor of “Akhdar mch Yebes” show on M.B.S radio station, defined planetary boundaries through enumerating the most prominent problems that the environment is facing today. Environemntal activist Fouad Yehia shed light on his experience in the Nahmeh Landfill campaign: its failures and opportunities and the positive role that the media played in its coverage. In addition, Agricultural Engineer Hussam Hawwa talked about water resources and whether they are a source of conflict or peace.

Finally, participants evaluated the four days of training and considered them as informative, active and productive. They pitched stories that are going to write about within the framework of MAP’s Environmental Media, Peace building and Conflict Transformation project. The group also discussed the rest of the project’s activities that include the public forum and the national conference to be held later on as well as the publication that will contain their own environmental articles. At the end, certificates were distributed to participants.