Journalists gather in Ohrid for Training in Environmental Reporting

Home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the historic city of Ohrid sits on the shores of Lake Ohrid - the oldest Lake in Europe.

This was the location of a recent capacity-building event for journalists aimed at developing their skills in environmental and water reporting. 

Inva Hasanaliaj, Journalist at Faktoje.al found the training very beneficial and said:

‘It was a pleasure spending those days in such a wonderful and essential training. It was quite interesting to get acquainted with many new aspects of environmental journalism’. 

Delivered by experienced journalist and former BBC Correspondent, Mr. Kieran Cooke, the training taught participants about key water and environmental issues such as climate change, competing water uses and water pollution. 

Participants had the opportunity to share their own experiences of environmental and water issues in the Drin Basin, helping to stimulate ideas for stories and apply their freshly gained knowledge to their local contexts. 

One of the participants said: ‘The training was a need in our daily work to further develop our knowledge.’ Arlis Alikaj, Journalist at Interview Newspaper

Members of the GEF Drin Project Coordination Unit presented details of the Drin Project, highlighting some of the challenges in the Basin and how, through the Drin CORDA process and a range of Pilot Projects, these issues are being addressed.  

The second day of the training was a highlight for participants as they boarded Boat Alexandria and cruised along the Lake to St. Naum, the site of St. Naum Monastery, to participate in St. Naum Celebration Day.

While onboard, journalists heard from Dejan Panovski (North Macedonian Coordinator for the GEF Drin Project) about the activities taking place on Lake Ohrid, under the GEF Drin Pilot Project, to develop a Lake Ohrid Watershed Management Plan. The Project, worth almost 200.000 USD will help identify a Programme of Measures to ensure the sustainable management of the Lake.

On arrival at St. Naum, participants visited the picturesque Springs of St. Naum – the source of Lake Ohrid.  

During the day, journalists developed ideas for stories, gathered photo material and had 1-2-1 mentoring sessions with trainer, Kieran.

Mr. Cooke was impressed with the participants knowledge and enthusiasm for the topic and their desire to develop thought-provoking stories from the content they had gathered over the two days of training. 

Notes:

The training, delivered under the Global Environment Facility Drin Project, was open to journalists reporting in a Drin Basin Riparian* (Albania, Greece, Kosovo**, Montenegro and North Macedonia). 

 *Riparian: relating to or situated on the banks of a river.

**All references to Kosovo are made in the context of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999)