E-bulletin “Development Cooperation News”
To enrich awareness of society and policymakers in Latvia about global
interconnection, challenges and initiatives to solve them both globally and
locally we have started to publish electronic information bulletin Development Cooperation News (DCN).
DCN is published electronically twice a year and features current
development cooperation topics from the perspective of practitioners, opinion
leaders and policy-makers.
The 3rd issue is Sustainable
Development Goals. It is looking for answers on the following questions: How can
we reduce global poverty, inequality, injustice, and climate change by
empowering development of our local communities? This global and local news is published in five
sections – POSITIONS, EVENTS, EXPERIENCE, OPINIONS, and RESOURCES that shape
the structure of DCN.
Read and download the bulletin Development Cooperation News here.
The next – 4th issue of Development Cooperation News will
be on how to measure Sustainable Development Goals.
Joint Study Trip to Palestine
A journalist from regional newspaper
Zemgales Ziņas - Agnese Leiburga
represented Green Liberty the joint study trip to Palestine on the July 11-17. This study trip
was organized by project’s Finnish partner
organization VIKES. During the trip Agnese Leiburga together
with her colleagues from other M4D partner organizations – Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic and Slovakia visited
Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Palestinian refugee camp Aida in Bethlehem, Hebron,
Jerusalem, and Abu Dis – city, which has been cut away
from Jerusalem by the Israeli separation wall. During
these visits there was a chance to interview Bashir
and Jeanette who are well-traveled Palestinian-Christian couple and have
decided to live in Bethlehem, as
well as Palestinian family affected by the separation wall, to visit
Bethlehem University with the participants of the media camp and
much more.
Reflections on situations and
experience have been published in several proceeding articles and are available
here:
Leiburga,
Agnese, (July-August, 2016). Viena žoga divas puses –
Izraēla un Palestīna. [Two sides of the same fence: Israel and Palestine]. Zemgales Ziņas [regional newspaper Zemgale News],
- August 11, 2016:
Helsinki Intensive
Course “Reporting World News” for Journalists
On April
20-22 three Latvian writing journalists who
have recently started their career together
with their colleagues from other M4D partner organizations – Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic and Slovakia
– deepened their awareness and understanding about reflecting on global
development issues in an Intensive Course on Development for Journalists
in Helsinki. Green Liberty was represented by Iveta Sondore (Vides Vēstis), Anna Ūdre
(FEJS Latvija) and Santa Logina
(regional newspaper Zemgales Ziņas). The
intensive course was organized by project’s Finnish partner organization VIKES.
The focus of the course was on such
topics as timely media issues in global context, sustainable development,
natural resources and disasters, migration and war coverage. The
seminar was a great success because of its relevant content, discussions and
workshops, organization and atmosphere.
Photo and Story
Competition Winners’ Trip to Kenya
From February 28 till March 23 a
group of two people representing Green Liberty had a possibility to explore
Kenya and challenge our stereotypes on life in East Africa. Lasma Ozola was interested in
sustainable agriculture practices in Kenya. Liene Bieza – a photographer – captured group’s moves during the
travel. Also, Liene Bieza and Lasma Ozola were the winners of the
photo/story competition Decent
Life for All. Lasma and Liene were
accompanied by Dimitri Vanham from Belgium who was documenting
interviews with project developers in video.
Evening Tea with Documentary Journalists
On
the February 17th Kārlis Lesiņš and Lelde Prūse, journalists from
the Woodpecker Pictures were invited
to an evening tea with Green Liberty’s staff and friends to share the story of
their trip to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they
filmed a documentary movie about the care for protected eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei andGorilla beringei graueri).
Social Campaign
With a successful piloting in
the knowledge festival HELSUS on May 21st in Jelgava we have started
a social campaign “Myths and truths
about our participation in global development”. The overall address of this
social campaign to general public in Latvia is incorporated in the question: Does it seem to you that “we should not help other countries, because we ourselves are poor”,
that “poverty results from too high birth rate”, that “help makes a
receiver to become lazy”, that “financial assistance is the most needed
help for poor countries”, that “climate change is not connected to
increase of poverty”? If yes, come and find it out if it is truth or not. Participants
interested in finding this out were involved in discussions where they shared their opinions about poverty,
birthrate, and impact of rich and poor countries and whether help changes the
situation for good or bad.
The second public debate was
during the conversation festival LAMPA on July 1st in Cēsis where we
added the next step to our discussion: How to substitute our myths with a rather
constructive view on reality? And why transforming myths to truths is similar
to swinging on a swing? The discussion was organized in the LAPAS (Latvian Platform for
Development Cooperation) tent that hosted several other discussions,
conversations, films, and games about global development organized by NGOs that
shared similar vision in the need to lend a hand to make the world a better
place.
Before the campaign we
organized an opinion pool that helped us to choose five the most popular myths
in Latvia:
- we should not help other countries, because we ourselves are poor,
- poverty results from too high birth rate,
- help makes a receiver to become lazy,
- financial assistance is the most needed
help for poor countries,
- climate change is not connected to
increase of poverty.
We started our discussion
with a metaphor of swinging on a swing, and connected it to the process of changing myths to
truths. After discussing each myth we shared the relevant results from the
opinion pool. Several
of proceeding events of the social campaign will be organized in the 2nd
part of this year.
Photo Exhibition “Decent Life for All”
Green Liberty also organizes
a
nation-wide photo exhibition Decent Life to All that is
ongoing and includes 24 pictures from the photo competition organized in July –
September 2015. The pictures included in the exhibition are created by professional and amateur photographers from Estonia,
Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia. Among pictures representing Latvia several of
them are created by national winner Liene Biezā. This
exhibition provides the visitors an opportunity to
think about their daily habits and the world as our global home, and to enhance their understanding of development
issues.
Since its opening at the European Union House in Riga the photo exhibition has been hosted by Latvia University, Latvia University of Agriculture, LU Botanical garden, Gulbene Municipality, Olympic center in Riga, Riga Central Market, shopping centre Galerija Centrs, Latvian National Library restaurant and several other famous restaurants, etc.
The exhibition aims to address general public in Latvia starting from school youngsters to elderly people. By choosing popular and diverse exhibition places we are trying to reach people of different professions and interests. In Gulbene the exhibition was used as a tool for teachers to work with pupils and it helped as educational material in local community.
Regional Journalist Training
Our collaboration with regional newspaper Zemgales
Ziņas (Zemgale News) initiated co-organization of regional journalist training Global echoes in regional journalistic
that was held on March 11 in Jelgava. The aim of the training was to discuss
urgent global issues in the field of journalism, to look for answers about the
role of regional journalism in a globalized world, and to enjoy a fair-trade coffee
and tea.
The program implied discussions about the mentioned issues and personal
experience stories told by a journalist Kārlis Lesiņš from Woodpecker Pictures who
shared
the story of his trips to several countries of Global South, including Rwanda
and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The training gathered 12 participants
who highlighted that events like this provided for
regional media are very rare. They shared that this and similar events help to
open mind, encourage journalists to look at local activities from a global perspective
and at global issues from a local perspective, and to cooperate with each
other. Several journalists pointed out that this training confirmed that it is crucial
to bring topicalities of a European project to the level of local community.
Concluding ideas that reflect
the issues and reflections covered in the training can be summarized as follows:
Regional journalism has a significant educative purpose, especially in local
regional communities where the majority of population do not belong to formal educational
system anymore. Thus, local and regional printed media are crucial means of informing
and awareness rising for a local community. And this purpose is closely
connected to the issue of responsibility.
A journalist is like a woodpecker that hammers persistently until she
or he gets to the essence. It is not a routine activity, as a journalist should
sustain his or her researcher’s spirit by moving around, observing, gathering
information, meeting people and creating stories about fresh issues. Yet, in
this activity a balance between expectations from employers and media consumers,
available information and resources, and journalist’s own interest and passion
should be ensured. A journalist most likely cannot change all the global
problems, but what she or he can do is to create stories that can serve the aim
to raise awareness and inspire to build hopeful future.
An added value
of a story is a
presence of journalist’s own culture (ethnic, gender, age, social and economic position,
etc.) and its dialogue with the story.
