OSCE organizes environmental seminar for journalists in Armenia

TSAKHKADZOR, 6 May 2004 - The OSCE Office in Yerevan and Armenia's Public Environmental Information Centre (Aarhus Centre) organized a two-day seminar for journalists to brief them about basic environmental questions and how these can be reported in the media.

"Development, stability and security as well as the health of societies in the OSCE region are more and more determined by ecological factors," said Jeannette Kloetzer, the OSCE Office's Economic and Environmental Officer. Referring to the OSCE Strategy Document for Economic and Enviromental Dimension, adopted at the December 2003 Maastricht Ministerial Council, Ms Kloetzer said that environmental protection was a priority issue for all OSCE participating States and stressed the importance of education in this field.

Artak Arakelyan, member of the Armenian parliament, emphasized the media's responsibility to provide the public with professional and reliable information on environmental issues and the decision-making process in Armenia.

The seminar, which was the first in a series to raise public awareness and professional knowledge about the topic, addressed particular questions regarding environmental legislation; democratic participation by civil society actors in the decision-making progress; risk reduction and management in the field of seismology; the protection, use and regeneration of natural resources in Armenia; sustainable development policies; and methods to disseminate environmental information.

A total of 20 representatives from national and regional television stations, radio and print media attended the event. They received lectures from, among others, the Head of the European Union Programme on the Aarhus Convention, Veronica Vann, and several international experts on the rehabilitation of industrially contaminated areas.