The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Professor Eric Nyarko Sampson, has called for stronger collaboration with media practitioners to enable them to improve public understanding of environmental sustainability and green innovation reporting.
He said there was a need for media practitioners, especially journalists, to always do responsible reporting on such crucial and critical areas to protect and preserve the environment and its natural resources for sustainable development.
Prof. Sampson made the call at a two-day media training seminar at the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua.
It was organised by the UESD through its Nkabom Collaborative in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.
The seminar, on the theme: "Reporting Green Innovation: Strengthening Media Engagement for Sustainable Development", was to sharpen the skills of journalists to enable them to report effectively on environmental issues, green innovation and sustainable development.
It was also to brainstorm on environmental issues aimed at addressing inherent challenges so that media practitioners will produce accurate, evidence-based, as well as impactful reportage on environmental sustainability, climate resilience and inclusive development.
Storytelling
Prof. Sampson indicated that the pivotal role of the media in shaping public discourse and fostering a culture of sustainability through compelling storytelling on environmental sustainability and green innovation could not be underestimated.
He said the Mastercard Foundation-supported initiative sought to equip 55,000 Ghanaian youth, particularly women and other vulnerable groups, with skills in entrepreneurship, agro-waste management and aquaculture, while promoting innovation-driven solutions for sustainable development.
The collaboration, he explained, was implementing an Agro-Waste Management and Aquaculture Technology Entrepreneurship Initiative to transform agricultural waste into valuable products while equipping young people with business and entrepreneurial skills.
Prof. Sampson, however, observed that large quantities of agricultural produce were lost through post-harvest losses, although many such discarded materials could be processed into marketable products.
For her part, the Administrator of the Nkabom Collaborative, who is also the Registrar of UESD, Mary Abena Agyepong, called on journalists to help address challenges affecting the environment.
That, she stated, would change the negative perception of persons who destroyed or polluted the environment.
She said journalists should be committed to the advancement of sustainable development of the environment through informed, responsible and impactful journalism.
Evidence-based
She stated that as the world continued to confront pressing environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity laws, pollution and food insecurity, there was a need for accurate, evidence-based and compelling reporting on green innovation that had become more critical.
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