Journalists on Green Growth Study Tour

BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE

Three of the Ghanaian Journalists

Five Ghanaian journalists, including two staff writers of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), are among 12 African journalists invited to participate in a week-long Green Growth study tour of Denmark.

They are Suleiman Mustapha (Graphic Business) and Edmund Smith-Asante (Daily Graphic), Ama Kudom-Agyeman (Freelance), Albert Oppong-Ansah (Ghana News Agency) and Francis Balikawu Npong (Rural Media Network).

The other journalists for the tour scheduled for February 23 to March 1, 2014, in the Danish cities of Aalborg and Arhus in Jutland and Copenhagen, are from South Africa and Kenya.

Their one-week visit to Denmark is a component of a pilot project, which focuses on three sub-themes of green growth - renewable energy, water resource management and agribusiness.

Tour’s objective

According to the organisers, International Media Support (IMS), an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), the objective of the study tour, is to increase knowledge and exchange views on green growth prospects and opportunities to development in Africa.

The study tour programme, would among other things, include discussions with leading researchers such as Professor Arne Remmen of the University of Aalborg, guided tours and exchanges of experience with Danish journalists.

It would also consist of on-site visits to projects and companies working with green growth solutions, as well as presentations and discussions on experiences in municipalities, with regard to popular participation, in relation to renewable energy and water management.

The 12 journalists would also meet with national and local politicians with a special interest in green growth, such as the Mayor of Aalborg, Søren Kastrup-Larsen.

Topics likely to be treated are “sanitation and waste management”, windmills, “From waste to energy”, “Innovation and entrepreneurship in small-scale agriculture on the African continent”, “waste water cleaning and water supply” and “Green Growth in the Media.”

The study tour is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh

FACTS

—  The delegation embarking on the tour is made up of environmental journalists.

—  IMS works in a wide range of media development in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean and the Middle East, to strengthen professional journalism and ensure that media can operate in challenging circumstances.

—  IMS was established in 2001 in the wake of the tragic events in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

—  IMS was set up in response to the trend of conflicts, with the aim to help local media working in conflict-affected areas to remain operative and professional.