Internews will be focusing on reporting on the environment and natural resources in Central Asia under a new project financially supported by the European Union. The project aims to enhance regional efforts to improve citizens’ and policy-makers’ access to information and communication on the issues.

“The environment and natural resources do not know borders,” said Ambassador Cesare De Montis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Kyrgyz Republic, in his opening remarks at the project launch. “While countries certainly have national policies on how to address environmental challenges and use natural resources, regional cooperation is key for effective action and sustainability, in Central Asia perhaps even more so than in other regions. Sound policies are based on valid information.”

The project will deliver a capacity development program that includes professional journalism trainings, joint thematic workshops for civil society organisations (CSOs) and media professionals, and the disbursement of small content production grants for creating media content on environmental topics. Working together with local CSOs and media companies, the project will develop and deploy sustainable interactive tools and platforms including data visualisations, mapping, and ways to improve civil engagement with environmental protection issues.

“This is an issue that has needed attention for a long time because it is difficult to overestimate the impact of environmental problems in our region, both for each individual country and for the region as a whole,” said Irina Chestyakova, a communication expert at Centre for Climate Change in the Kyrgyz Republic.