The Soul Beat 183 - Communicating Climate Change and Disaster Risk
In this issue of The Soul Beat:
- COMMUNICATING CLIMATE CHANGE and adaptation...
- ONLINE SURVEY ahead of COP17...
- STRENGETHING CLIMATE CHANGE MEDIA in Africa...
- New SCIENCE AND MEDIA THEMESITE...
- Strategies for REDUCING DISASTER RISK...
- ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORKS in Africa...
Between November 29 and December 9 2011, South Africa will be hosting the 17th session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework in Climate Change. This issue of The Soul Beat shares information about media and communication to raise awareness, dialogue, and action related to climate change in Africa, as well as the associated challenge of reducing disaster risk. This issue also includes information about networks and associations working to address environmental issues on the continent.
If you would like your organisation's communication work or research and resource documents to be featured on the Soul Beat Africa website and in The Soul Beat newsletters, please contact soulbeat@comminit.com
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1. Bennde Mutale Theatre Group - South Africa
The Bennde Mutale Theatre Group works to bring environmental education to the Bennde Mutale community, near the Mozambican and Zimbabwean borders of South Africa, particularly around global warming and climate change adaptation, though entertaining theatre productions. Working in cooperation with the local community, Resource Africa founded the Bennde Mutale Theatre Group in 2009, as part of their Climate Change Community-Based Adaptation Programme. The Bennde Mutale Theatre Group develops productions that are designed to be open-ended and flexible, in order to encourage audiences to engage and participate, to raise awareness about global warming and explain the principles around climate change - why and how it is occurring, and what effects it has on communities globally and locally.
2. Enviromobile Bus - Tunisia
Since 2008, the Enviromobile bus has been touring schools in Tunisia to inform and involve pupils aged 9 to 14, especially girls, on environmental issues, as well as to encourage them to think globally and act locally. Part of the wider German-Tunisian Environmental Protection Program (PPE), the Enviromobile was set up by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH working in collaboration with local partners. Inside the bus, students work on environmental topics interactively. Around the bus, environmental workshops take place in which children learn simulations with teaching aids. The trainers illustrate topics related to water resources, energy, biodiversity, or the relationship between energy consumption and climate change, waste management, waste water treatment, climate change, or biodiversity.
3. Zachilengedwe Tsogolo Lathu ("Our Environment, Our Future") Radio Project - Malawi and Zambia
With funds from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, Developing Radio Partners (DRP) launched a year-long pilot project in September 2009, "Our Environment, Our Future," which was designed to create and broadcast high-quality environmental programming to radio listeners in Malawi and Zambia, focusing on local issues. The project worked with Breeze FM, a community-oriented private station in Chapata, Zambia, as well as five other community radio stations, to build reporter capacity to report on climate change issues, engage in community activities around solutions to climate change, and use cell phone technology to increase interactivity.
4. The World Has Malaria - Tanzania
Launched in 2011, The World Has Malaria is a 20-minute documentary-drama designed to explain the causes of climate change and to present some adaptation options and future strategies for pastoralist communities in Tanzania. The documentary was developed by Resource Africa UK, in collaboration with the Tanzania Natural Resources Forum (TNRF) and Ujamaa Community Resources Team (UCRT), based on photo-stories developed with local communities. The community-led film uses interviews, drama scenes, and animation to showcase climate change experiences by communities in northern Tanzania. The film focuses on Maasai communities in Tanzania and Kenya, and is produced in the Maa language, with English subtitles. A Swahili edit is under production for broader national and international distribution.
5. Children's Right to Be Heard in Global Climate Change Negotiations
By Daniel Walden, Nick Hall, and Kelly Hawrylyshyn
This document, published by Plan International in 2009, focuses on climate change and the possibilities of child-centred community action and contribution to national and international consultations. "Granted the opportunity to learn, to be informed, and to take part, children can be very effective agents for change. From local level community based disaster risk reduction interventions, to global level engagement in climate change decision-making, children all over the world are now showing their interest, capacity and valuable role in strengthening resilience to climate risks. Plan is determined to work towards a world where genuine children's participation is the norm, not a novelty - including participation in climate change decisions."
The World Association of Girl Guides (WAGGGS) has launched a "We can save our planet" campaign, to ensure that the voice of girls and young women is heard at upcoming 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP17) in Durban, South Africa. As part of the first round of consultations, WAGGS is requesting girls and boys, women and men of all ages around the world to participate in an online questionnaire, available in three languages - English, French, and Spanish. Deadline for participation is October 31 2011. Click here for questionnaire.
STRENGETHING CLIMATE CHANGE MEDIA
6. Mediating Climate Change in selected Southern African Newspapers: Towards Climate and Environmental Journalism
By Admire Mare
This March 2011 article critiques current climate change journalism and argues that the media is crucial in restoring the voices of those most affected by climate change. It provides a critique of current climate journalism and argues that, given the potentially catastrophic effect climate change could have on the livelihoods of billions of people, the media are crucial for restoring the voice of those most likely to be affected. The author argues that the obvious missing link in climate change discourses is development journalism that treats audiences as citizens, prioritises public listening, and encourages active citizenship in the debates.
7. Climate Scientists Must Engage Openly with the Media
By David Dickson
This editorial calls on the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to keep lines of communication open between journalists and researchers. In it, David Dickson cites as an example the experience of a SciDev.Net contributor who asked for contact details of African scientists nominated to the IPCC working groups. An IPCC media officer reportedly indicated that such requests should "come through the media and communications team," and that no details would be provided until the scientists concerned had been trained in working with the media. Dickson suggests that "in developing countries, which can lack a tradition of institutional support for links between journalists and scientists," this kind of gatekeeping approach could widen the gap between the two, particularly if the media training is not forthcoming.
8. The Media, Climate and Society - The African Story
By Patrick Luganda
This article, published by Network of Climate Change Journalists of the Greater Horn of Africa (NECJOGHA) in 2008, outlines the media's role in communicating the impact of climate change, arguing that most of the disasters affecting Africa today are climate-related. The author argues that the media can be an extremely useful, meaningful, and cost-efficient sector that bridges the gap between climate and society. He goes on to say that if the connection between climate information and its negative outcomes can be established early and relayed to end users in a timely manner, intervention strategies can be implemented more quickly. He believes, however, that this can only happen if the capacity of the media to report on climate change is improved.
9. The Role of Community Radio in Climate Adaptation
Presented at the AfricaAdapt Climate Change Symposium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 2011, this article outlines how community radio can be used as a catalyst to improve food security in the face of the challenges brought about by climate change. It focuses on a project conducted by Farm Radio International (FRI) and The African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) in 2007 that was aimed at gathering, implementing, evaluating, and sharing best practices for using radio-based communication strategies to enhance food security in Africa. In Malawi, the project worked with five radio stations. The article highlights the work done at one of the participating community radio stations, Dzimwe Community Radio.
10. The Congo Basin Forest and Climate Change Adaptation Project: Shaping the Debate on Adaptation to Climate Change in Media
This paper, presented at the AfricaAdapt Climate Change Symposium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 2011, reviews initiatives conducted by the Congo Basin Forest and Climate Change Adaptation Project (CoFCCA) to develop media discourse around climate change in the Congo Basin region. The authors argue that media in the region have the potential to become major actors in the climate change dialogue; however, they are constrained in their interventions in the arena. It also outlines lessons learnt from CoFCCA's interventions in media discourse and coverage in the Congo Basin, such as the need for specialised training for journalists and the lack of innovation in training in both public and private universities.
SOUL BEAT AFRICA SCIENCE AND MEDIA THEMESITE AND E-FORUM
Soul Beat Africa, in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), recently launched a Science and Media Themesite and e-forum. The online space is designed for journalists, editors, and media institutions seeking to improve science reporting in Africa as well as for anyone interested in science communication and the role of science education in development.
To view the Science and Media Themesite click here.
To join the Science and Media e-forum click here.
REDUCING DISASTER RISK
11. Toolkit for National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa
This toolkit, published by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) in 2010, presents a set of practical steps identified as necessary to establish, maintain, and sustain national platforms for disaster risk reduction (DRR). The toolkit outlines actions, examples, and resources available. The publication describes national platforms as "a generic term for national mechanisms for coordination and policy guidance on disaster risk reduction that are multi-sectoral and inter-disciplinary in nature, with public, private and civil society participation involving all concerned entities within a country."
12. Bravos do Zambeze - Mozambique
First launched in March 2009, Bravos do Zambeze (Zambezi Braves) combined a 26-episode radio drama produced in 2 languages with training for community radio journalists in order to convey information around disaster risk reduction and floods, as well as to build local capacity for reporting on disasters and climate change. The drama was produced for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) by CMFD (community Media for Development) Productions, as part of the United Nations Delivering as One, Joint Programme on Disaster Risk Reduction Project. CMFD and IOM are re-releasing an adapted and translated version of the drama for the Limpopo Valley in October 2011. The Bravos do Zambeze storyline centres around a soccer captain, Jose, and his teammates, who help their community to cope after it is struck by floods.
13. Finding the Fable - South Africa and Zimbabwe
Launched in 2011, Finding the Fable is a documentary film that explores issues affecting community resilience along the Limpopo River border area between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Produced by the African Centre for Disaster Studies (ACDS), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the film includes ordinary people telling their stories about how the river, social and land issues, wildlife, and cycles of drought and flood affect their lives. The film combines recitations of Kipling's tales about the Limpopo River with profiles of communities and the issues they face. It focuses mainly on issues around natural disasters, particularly droughts and floods, but also looks at intersecting issues such as increased poverty and lack of access to economic opportunities, health care, education, clean drinking water, and proper sanitation.
14. Facilitating Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (Oct 24 - Nov 4 2011) Kampala, Uganda
Organised by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Africa (IIRR Africa), the goal of the course is to enable communities to increase their capacity to reduce risk and vulnerability, as well as build resilience to withstand and cope with the impact of hazards. According to organisers, IIRR and CORDAID have documented good community practices on how to cope with drought and developed several resources, including a toolkit and a trainer's manual on community managed disaster risk reduction (CMDRR), which is the guide for the CMDRR course.
15. Network of Climate Change Journalists of the Greater Horn of Africa (NECJOGHA) - East Africa
Formed in 2002 in Eldoret, Kenya during the ninth Climate Outlook Forum (COF9), the Network of Climate Change Journalists of the Greater Horn of Africa (NECJOGHA) comprises members from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The objective of the network is to enhance the interaction between climate scientists and journalists and, in so doing, to disseminate climate information in ways that are easily understood by all, including policymakers and the general public in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA). Climate media associations in each country provide the focal points, which coordinate national activities.
16. African Biodiversity Network (ABN) - Africa
First conceived in 1996 and formally launched in 2002, the African Biodiversity Network (ABN) is a regional network of over 35 individuals and organisations working to find African solutions to ecological and socio-economic challenges that face the continent. ABN focuses on indigenous knowledge, ecological agriculture, and biodiversity-related rights, policy, and works to provide a forum for sharing experiences, co-developing methodologies, and creating a united African voice on the continent for biodiversity and community resilience. According to ABN, indigenous knowledge and solutions is at the heart of the organisation. Members use their collective strength and experience to build knowledge, skills, and relationships across civil society organisations.
17. Earth Journalism Network (EJN) - Africa and Global
Internews Network and Internews Europe launched Earth Journalism Network (EJN) in 2006 in an effort to empower networks of local journalists in developing countries to effectively cover environmental issues, with a particular focus on reaching the information-poor. EJN establishes networks of environmental journalists - as of January 2011, numbering journalists on 6 continents and 70 countries - in countries where they do not exist, and builds their capacity where they do. Tactics include offering training workshops and developing training materials, supporting production and distribution, and dispersing small grants. Drawing on networks, EJN uses face-to-face encounters to train journalists in a variety of environmental issues, including climate change, biodiversity, water, environment health, and oceans and coastal resources.
18. Ethiopian Environment Journalists Association (EEJA) - Ethiopia
Established in 2006, the Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association (EEJA) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation founded by senior media professionals interested to contribute to raising awareness about sustainable development in Ethiopia. EEJA works to build the awareness and capacity of journalists to report on environmental issues so that the media can play its roles in informing and raising awareness among the public. Beyond the Headlines was a project designed by EEJA and supported by the Department For International Development (DfID) to highlight developing countries' and economically poor community perspectives on climate change through awarding fellowship grants for journalists. Awardees covered such issues as climate change adaptation and its relation to agriculture, energy, water, health, and other aspects of development.
Related previous issues of The Soul Beat include:
Climate Change Communication
Climate Change and the Environment
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