Panos London

Many people are unaware of the decisions made on environmental policy that will have a direct effect on their lives. Conversely, international and national policymakers do not always know about the needs and priorities of the local communities they represent.

We work primarily with the media to enable information about national and international decision-making to be communicated as widely as possible. The media are also an important outlet for local people to express themselves and make their views known, on their own terms.

However, it is a challenge to convince mainly urban-based journalists to work with excluded communities and to recognise the importance of listening to these communities. We train these journalists, offering two tiers of support:

• Through workshops and attending international summits, journalists learn to recognise and value unheard voices, and gain a better understanding of the details of environmental negotiations and decision-making
• We offer assistance, including funding, so that journalists can gather the opinions of people living in areas remote from urban centres in order to produce more balanced and well-rounded stories
  

We also work with editors, to increase the chances of the results of this support being broadcast and published.

Our work with local communities most affected by environmental issues involves finding ways for them to articulate their concerns and needs in ways that are culturally appropriate and tailored to them. For example, we have trained people to gather the stories and experiences of people in their own communities and helped them to identify the best ways for this information to reach key decision-makers.

Environment highlights

• Video | Our fight against the dunes
• Video | Communicating climate change
• Publication | A mine of information?