The United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) and the United Nations University Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), in partnership with the UN Information Centre (UNIC), Accra, announce a call for application for a Science Reporting Workshop. The workshop aims to help bridge the gap between science communications and science journalism. It seeks to help people working in research, government and media to learn from each other, amid a global culture where ‘dumbing down’ is becoming the norm.
Date: 26th -27th April, 2017
Venue: UNU-INRA Office, 2nd Floor International House, University of Ghana Campus, Legon-Accra, Ghana
Overview
This will be a two-day training workshop, focusing on science communications and science journalism. The first day for science communications and the second day for science journalism, with focus on environmental journalism. The programme will be built on sharing good practice in science reporting: from writing to pitching to presenting to monitoring. This means turning theory into practice in interactive sessions, tailoring content for different groups, and then swapping roles. There will be plenary sessions for journalists, scientists and communication specialists, with the aim of gathering different perspectives from key actors – to clarify the challenges and identify potential synergies for science reporting.
This workshop was inspired by a request from the Head of Education at the African Union Commission, Dr. Beatrice Njenga – a request made at a ‘DEIP’ innovation workshop in Nairobi, October 2014. The programme for the workshop is put together with support from the UN University Headquarters in Tokyo, drawing from the long-running ‘UNU-RMIT‘ Science Communications Course.
Target Group
The workshop is targeting science journalists, researchers and communications staff in Ghana and neighbouring African countries.
Application
Application is particularly invited from Journalists in Ghana and other African Countries (self-funding). To apply, kindly fill the attached form and send it together with your curriculum vitae (CV) before 31st March, 2017 to nutakor@unu.edu. For further information, please send an email to Praise Nutakor at nutakor@unu.edu or call +233-213850. Ex.6319.
Language
The training workshop and materials will be in English.
Certificate
UN University (UNU) certificate will be awarded.