EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
Holding only 2.4% of the world’s land area, India’s varied physical features and diverse ecosystems host nearly 8% of the world’s total number of species. However, increasing habitat fragmentation, industrial development, urbanisation, climate change, dying genetic diversity and over-exploitation of resources are just some of the threats facing India’s natural resources.
Additionally, increasing consumption patterns in urban areas have now given rise to a new set of governance and environmental issues. Cities have engulfed adjoining small towns and villages resulting in most urban areas facing infrastructural and governance issues, water and sanitation being prominent. The environment has paid a hefty price in all of them.
Urban Climate Resilience Training Camp
The first of the Darryl D’Monte Memorial series begins on the 28th of January 2020 in collaboration with the Mumbai Press Club and sponsored by Tata Trusts.
The training camp will be held at the Mumbai Press Club premises, with over 35 journalists attending the event. This will be followed by a field trip to Aarey in the afternoon. The schedule for the days activities is below and photos will be up soon.
Fellowships
FEJI has been conducting a series of annual Media Fellowships since 2013. The third series of Fellowships, in collaboration with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) are in progress in 2017. Themes for these annual Fellowships have dwelt on various topics under biodiversity and environmental conservation.
Workshops and Orientation Events
FEJI has conducted a seminar on low-carbon development for senior journalists in collaboration with the UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan (UNIC) and has also conducted several workshops and media orientation activities on biodiversity, environmental conservation, water and sanitation. Workshops have been attended by an average of 15-20 journalists each time. Expert Speakers have been invited to speak on various topics, while FEJI has conducted media sessions on the day’s proceedings at the end of each day’s activities.Workshop participants have gone back from the proceedings and published stories/news articles stemming from information and background knowledge from these proceedings.
Media Training and Awareness
FEJI has collaborated with The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) in the media-orientation module of a training and orientation programmes for senior Indian Forest Service officers, at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy at Dehradun in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
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FEJI has also participated in various panels and forums on current issues and conducted talks and journalism modules at higher education colleges in Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala.
FEJI is now poised to expand further.
Meet the Press
FEJI has, in collaboration with UNIC, organised and conducted a ‘Meet the Press’ event with the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in 2015. FEJI selected twenty journalists from around the country to attend the event at Vadodara in January 2015. The main topic was on solar energy, though the event featured wide-ranging issues pertaining to the UN and to environment and development.
Journalists participating produced and published over twenty-five news stories in TV , Print and Online media within 24 hours of the event.
Travel to COP
FEJI has, in collaboration with UN Women, taken six selected journalists to attend the 20th Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP20) at Paris in 2015, while FEJI President Keya Acharya was invited to represent FEJI in COP 21 in 2016.