Writing Environmental News Berlin December 3-7 2001

sponsored by the Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development and Reuters Foundation with special support from the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt - DBU

The heaving back of a Berlin cycle-taxi was an early reminder to journalists from several East European countries that they were embarking on a training course firmly centred on the environment. On the eve of the five-day course the bright yellow two-seater taxis, open to the elements, ferried the 12 journalists from what was once West Berlin to a reception in Berlin City Hall, in the former communist East. The occasion: a reception for participants in an international festival of environmental films which provided the backdrop for the presentation by Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan of the 2001 Reuters-IUCN (World Conservation Union) Media Awards for Environmental Journalism.

Next day course work in Writing Environmental News began in earnest at the Sony Centre for the group drawn from Yugoslavia, Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Switzerland and Estonia.

From their introductory statements, it quickly became clear that all the former Soviet bloc countries faced serious environmental problems coupled with a general lack of public awareness and/or apathy.  The course, run by Reuters Foundation's Oliver Wates, with Colin McIntyre as copy critic, was aimed at sharpening general writing skills while looking at a range of environmental issues.

One of the chief lessons we tried to put across, through simulated exercises and writing up lectures from experts, was how to sift out complicated science and technical jargon, which often accompanies such issues, to get to the heart of the story and tell it in simple language for the ordinary reader.  The experts included Professor Janusz Kindler from Warsaw Technology University's Faculty of Environmental Engineering; Dr Barbara Dubach of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development; Achim Steiner, Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN); and Hanns Michael Hoelz, Global Head of Sustainable Development at Deutsche Bank.  All of the lectures produced plenty of questions from the participants.

The group was also treated to a reception hosted by Fritz Brickwedde, Secretary General of the DBU which funds a wide series of environmental projects from its gleaming glass office in Osnabrück, Germany, built with mainly recyclable materials and the latest energy-saving methods and designed so that no artificial light is required for 80% of office hours.

One of the most interesting excursions was to the major German power company Bewag to examine their working fuel cell-powered plant which uses hydrogen, recoverable from water, to produce both electricity and heat. Bewag's Martin Pokojski held out the prospect of homes producing their heat and electricity individually through "black boxes" powered by non-polluting fuel cells. Asked to write a feature on the visit, it was encouraging to see that most of the group looked for a colourful angle relevant to ordinary people, with several opting for the laptop computer powered by a fuel cell whose tiny bottle of hydrogen can keep it running continuously for 20 hours.

As for the group itself, it was encouraging to see individuals from a region which has had more than its share of problems over the past decade, particularly former Yugoslavia, working and sharing their experiences together. Asked jokingly if it wasn't time for all the ex-Yugoslav republics to get back together again, they replied that European Union membership, sought avidly by all East European countries, would by itself go some way towards bringing that about.

The 12 participants with copy critic Colin McIntyre (blue shirt, front row) and tutor Oliver Wates (far right).

The journalists taking part were: Tomislav Sikic and Nikolina Zlatkovic (Croatia), Ales Vojir (Czech Republic), Costin Ionescu (Romania), Mihajlo Maricic and Jovanna Bukejlovic (Yugoslavia), Christine Elleboode-Zwaans (Switzerland), Tibor Gergely Kovacs (Hungary), Natalija Jegorova (Lithuania), Kadi Heinsalu (Estonia), Milena Tanusheva (Bulgaria) and Urska Kristan (Slovenia).   
       
Photos by Mihajlo Maricic, Yugoslavia
Report by Colin McIntyre