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Kathmandu Wednesday March 06, 2002 Falgun 22, 2058.
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Role of media in environmental
education
By MADHAB PRASAD ADHIKARI & RAM PRASAD
SAPKOTA
Sustained interest in environmental conservation
is possible only if a long- term programme of education is instituted at all levels of
education, even at the kindergarten and elementary levels. What is required is sensitivity
training in environmental issues and perhaps a dash of what Schumacher (1973) calls
"Buddhist Economics" which emphasizes the important of right livelihood and
reverence for life. In higher education, an interdisciplinary trend is needed. Elementary
and secondary education programmes must rely on other aids of communication and teaching
like radio, television and cinema to bring novelty and interest into an otherwise dull
routine. Any resource outside the preview of formal education must become involved in the
task of increasing environmental education and concern among people. In this context, the
potentiality of the reach of mass media can be effectively utilised to evoke concern and a
positive attitude towards environment among the viewers. This is essential because it is
not just the student who must be educated about the environment. We cannot wait for our
student population to grow up and save our environment. This sort of environmental
education is necessary right from the preschoolers to adults, since the involvement of the
whole community is necessary to improve the quality of the environment.
Communication support for environmental
education: Communication media offer a tremendous potential in making people aware of
their environment and the associated problems, not only in schools but in all walks of
life. The elements of media have reached millions of people with messages concerning
environment preservation and improvement. They are also most effective in teaching
the out-of-school population. Media can foster environmental awareness and encourage
people’s participation in issues of its conservation. It has the potential to create
community forums on environmental issues. Local projects, national trends and the latest
communication technology, all can set the pace for better understanding of the
environment.
A communication campaign for environmental
education could involve the following steps in the formulation and presentation of the
programme:
Environmental interpretation: Any programme for
environment should involve a deliberate explanation of the environment and its components
and the concerned issues to the receiver. Tools include television, radio, print, media,
even displays, leaflets, labels, films and talks. People must get familiar with their
environment and the conservation issues involved. The aim must be to promote a proactive,
ecologically sound, conservationist type of interpretation. Emphasis must be on
encouraging the receiver to find things out in a more personal way.
Reintroduction: The next step is to reintroduce
people to their own familiar environment. Whereas environmental interpretation introduces
people to new environments, reintroduction seeks to explain to people details of their own
inherent environment, which will help them to appreciate it better. The objectives are to
create a bond between the residents and their environment, to prevent any nest fouling and
to encourage positive action towards conservation of the immediate neighbourhood.
Sensitivity training: The third step is to
enable people to develop a sensory awareness of the place and a feel for the environment.
Stress here should be on emotional appeal to the aesthetic issues in environment. The goal
is to increase awareness and provide a foundation for personal growth as well as for
descriptive, analytical and experimental activities. This sort of a campaign can be
effectively pursed by the various environmental centres set up to promote greater
awareness on core issues. The public Broadcasting Environment Centre in the United States
was set up in the seventies as a non-profit organisation for that very purpose.
Such organisations solely devoted to the cause
of promoting environmental education through media is the need of the hour. In the long
term this crusade towards the establishment of a nationwide environmental classroom
through media may lead to the development of an environmental religion which will involve
recognition of non-economic environmental issues as factors in development and nurture of
human identity. For those who think it best to sacrifice the environment and live in
"God’s own junkyard" these nuances of environmental education must be
applied only more rigorously. What is needed today is a whole lot of dedicated
"environmental communicators" who can help shape attitudes of the people towards
conserving the bountiful nature and prevent its many hazards.
(Concluded)
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