Environmental education: why did environmental students decide to become journalists?

A year ago, 10 students decided to talk about ecology in an accessible way. And not just to run a group in social networks, but to reach the regional and federal level. This is how the Professional Student Association (PSA) "Environmental Journalism" came into being. They have already managed to achieve a lot. For example, they won first place in an international contest of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, took part in all-Russian projects and appeared as experts in TV programs on REN TV, Moscow 24, and 5TV.

“Environmental education is a popular topic, but sometimes the media incorrectly convey information about environmental problems. We decided to develop in the field of journalism in order to cover environmental issues more accurately, because this is our professional field. We are inside the system, inside science. And it seemed like a good idea to talk about ecology based on science”, Ksenia Ryabchenkova, Chairwoman of the Professional Student Association (PSA) “Environmental Journalism”.

The Association has set two goals:

• To train novice environmental specialists to interact with the media.
• To prepare experts who will be able to independently create an environmental agenda and convey the ideas of environmental education to the public.

“We cover various topics related to ecology: climate change, biodiversity conservation, natural disasters, resource conservation and conscious consumption. Our curator Vladimir Pinaev, Ph.D. in Economics, Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Ecology, helps us in this. Our mission is to highlight environmental issues, remind people of the value of resources and environmental issues”, Ksenia Ryabchenkova.

During the year of work, environmental students managed to collect an extensive portfolio. They gave comments to the media, participated in TV projects, conducted master classes, and volunteered at the Moscow Urban Forum and at events from the Academy of Innovators. The PSA became the best in the international award of Rosprirodnadzor "Ecology is everyone's business" and the All—Russian competition "Russia: habitat". The list of their achievements was supplemented by a speech at a meeting of the Public Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and a project in the international competition "The role of youth in achieving sustainable development Goals".

“It is difficult to single out the biggest achievement, because every event was important for our team. We were engaged in environmental education for schoolchildren, attended events, and took part in environmental competitions. For example, for the Rosprirodnadzor competition, we recorded a video business card about our activities and told why it is important and useful. To speak at a meeting of the Public Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, we have prepared a report on the work of our PSA and environmental journalism”, - Ksenia Ryabchenkova.

The members of the Environmental Journalism association join the ranks of their team every year. To become a member of the PSA, you need to pass the selection process, it is organized once a year. Interviewing, writing an article, recording an interview, shooting a reportage — and there is one more environmental reporter in the RUDN!

The next date of the entrance test and new achievements of the PSA will be announced in the official VK community of the association.

The PSA “Environmental Journalism” was created at the suggestion of Irina Golovacheva, Deputy Director of the Institute of Environmental Engineering for Educational Work.

Photo: PSA “Environmental Journalism”