ICS launches regional project to popularize environmental communication

The Balkan region, including Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, is threatened by high pollution that entails various pollutants, and a number of animal and plant species are being destroyed. However, in these countries, there is still insufficient understanding of environmental problems and how to address them. Hence, environmental communication is essential to understand the complex environmental challenges and to strengthen the role of individuals and organizations in environmental management.

Therefore, the Institute of Communication Studies, together with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture at the University of Zagreb, the Department of Biology and Ecology at the University of Novi Sad, the Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Sarajevo and the Department of Biology at the University of Tirana, is launching the project “Mainstreaming environmental communication through online learning and virtual mobility“, funded by the EU ERASMUS+ program.

Environmental communication is not integrated into existing educational programs in the Western Balkans and Croatia in a way that combines ecology, communications, journalism and research. Therefore, the project will introduce an innovative and interdisciplinary approach in creating and implementing a regional online program and virtual mobility opportunities. The six-month specialization will be intended for representatives of civil society, researchers, lecturers in educational institutions, public institution employees and the business sector, journalists, as well as all those who are interested and want to educate and train themselves as environmental communication professionals.

The project will include training of trainers and curriculum development, creation of online educational materials, a learning game and guide for environmental communication, as well as implementation of online courses and a hackathon for developing campaigns to solve environmental problems in the region. Upon completion of the professional program, participants will receive certificates and ECTS credits from higher education institutions that are partners in the project.

First and foremost, the project will strengthen the knowledge and expertise of approximately a hundred program participants from the region, and the participants should use that knowledge in their line of work, aiming to change the attitudes and behavior of others. The project will also increase the understanding of the importance of environmental communication in various sectors and aspects of society and open up a new field of research and job opportunities in the region.