A Training and Resource Kit

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the lead co-ordinating agency designated to ensure the implementation of this far-reaching, complex undertaking. It has been entrusted by the United Nations General Assembly with the responsibility of promoting awareness and understanding on sustainable development.

Media influence and shape public opinion, and UNESCO therefore invites all electronic and print media organisations, media professionals, training institutions and students to participate in the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. This can be done by learning, understanding and imparting knowledge that is essential for the survival, growth, protection and development of planet Earth.

Why is media engagement vital in raising awareness on sustainable development? How can the media ensure systematic coverage and disclosure of accountability issues everywhere? Where can the media find accurate and reliable information? What will make the media consider covering sustainable development issues?

Media managers from developed and developing countries broached some of these questions at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002. They arrived at the conclusion that the greatest problem with sustainable development is that it has not entered the public conscience. They felt that the term ‘sustainable development' is United Nations (UN) terminology, and that media audiences cannot relate to the issues and challenges unless these are profiled through people to whom they can relate. In countries where the struggle for sustainable development is part of daily life, media managers wanted to see more engagement that contributes to a growing, creative, information-sharing platform that is open to constructive discussion and debate.

Media as Partners in Education for Sustainable Development addresses issues that are being discussed on the social, economic and environmental fronts. It does not pretend to know all the answers, but draws on existing experience and recommends resources for further inquiry and research. It encourages the media to engage in public participation and to debate improvements that can lead to sustainable development. It also seeks to contribute to media awareness and understanding of sustainability, as outlined by the Agenda 21 Plan of Action for all nations endorsed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

The media community is urged to use this tool to inquire, investigate and report further so that issues can be disclosed, discussed and debated publicly and democratically. We believe that this media training and resource kit will assist media professionals in their efforts to report on sustainable development issues, help provide relevant information resources and establish a model for media training on this important topic.

Download the Training and Resource Kit (pdf, 3mb)