Bush Radio 89.5 FM will be providing coverage of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to various radio stations and other media organisations in South Africa and around the world for the duration of the conference (28 November – 9 December 2011) in Durban.
You will be able to access updates, audio, video and pictures via the Bushradionews platform or by following us on Twitter and searching here #COP17.
For the past three months, we have been running our climate change – COP17 campaign, which consists of community dialogues, training for broadcasters and running a news desk during COP17.
In the past two weeks (7 – 18 November) our offices have reverberated with the words COP17 and climate change – training and equipping broadcasters to demystify the issues of climate change and COP17, and enabling them to engage in debates at their stations.
Participants getting to grips with the issues
Bush Radio, in partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, developed a training course which brought together radio journalists from throughout South Africa. With the training, the broadcasters will be able to highlight the issues of climate change and translate these issues to their various communities in a clear and efficient way. In order to acheive this, briefings were held with various stakeholders in the area of climate change – these included the public, scientists, activists, civil society, politicians, international broadcasters and the United Nations. The course also upgraded their production and journalism skills.
The BBC's Steve Martin engaging the group on the importance of community media
What some of the participants felt about the training:
“The workshop has opened my mind by giving me a better understanding of climate change and COP17. I feel like a new encyclopaedia filled with more knowledge than Google”. – Tashneem Abrahams – VOC
Team building through dance
“The two weeks of being in Cape Town has really flown by quickly. The staff at Bush Radio has been very friendly, but most of all, the entire workshop has been great and the facilitator was great too. Thank you so much to everyone who has made this possible.” –Xolelwa Mvumvu – Motheo FM
“Having been part of this 2 weeks climate change workshop has been a great experience. Meeting up with journalists from other provinces and having fun while learning was definitely the cherry on top.” – Bongani Gina – uMgungundlovu Community Radio KZN
This year marks the 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP17), which takes place annually, highlighting the significance of “climate change”. Bush Radio supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung is hosting a series of consultative meetings with civil society organisations to discuss their plans for COP17 and how Bush Radio could assist with publicising and broadcasting the planned events and activities.
A drama demonstrating the effects of climate change
On Monday, 14th November 2011, Bush Radio, in partnership with Sub-Council 9 in Khayelitsha and Radio Zibonele, hosted a public meeting on COP17, at the Thusong Multi-purpose Centre, to discuss the issues of climate change and its impact on communities.
Sheryl Ozinsky getting the crowd debating
The audience getting into the debate
Guest speakers included Sheryl Ozinsky from the City of Cape Town’sClimate Smart, who informed the audience about various information regarding “Climate Change” and Misha Teasdale from Greenpop, who showed the individuals how they should plant trees.
The audience also gave input on the features Bush Radio is producing as part of its training course for journalists for COP17
Greenpop's Misha Teasdale getting down to some explaining
The event included lots of fun and laughter and ended with the guests receiving lunch and a tree as a gift to take home for them to plant in their own communities.
Getting it grounded - Misha Teasdale planting with members of the Khayelitsha community
Join Bush Radio and Radio Zibonele in Khayelitsha as we discuss; What is climate change? What is all the fuss about? How you can get involved. This is a first of a series of public dialogues by Bush Radio 89.5FM leading up to the COP17 conference.