From Rainforest Reporting to Rainforest Engagement

Global Education and Outreach Program Will Launch at #Interconnected22

For years, the Pulitzer Center model has incorporated reporting into comprehensive educational and outreach programs, with the goal of extending the impact of journalism and mobilizing different audiences to engage directly on the issues. We’re now expanding this work globally, with new educational and outreach programs in South America, Africa, and Asia.

Next week’s annual conference marks the launch of our International Education and Outreach Program, bringing together specialists from across the globe. We will be presenting six new initiatives, inspired by the amazing work of the Rainforest Journalism Fund (RJF) and of the Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN), to foster engagement and create more powerful narratives on rainforest and climate issues.

In the Amazon, led by Jonatan Rodríguez and Maria Darrigo, we will launch a module course in partnership with Brazilian Amazon universities to discuss the rainforest crisis and promote civic engagement. In Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, we will put in place the “Amazonia Lab,” a digital platform bringing people together to learn and act about Amazon rainforest deforestation.

In the Congo Basin, led by Afy Malungu and Eric Selemani, we will be piloting the “Congo Basin Teacher’s Hub” to support teachers and students in their learning and engagement in favor of the protection of Congo Basin rainforests, and the “Congo Basin Talk with Young Professionals” platform to discuss the added value that the forest can represent in the well-being of DRC youth.

In the Southeast Asia region, led by Grenti Paramitha and Vijitra Duangdee, we are introducing the “SEA Journalist-Scientist Rainforest Forum,” a hub to foster dialogue between Indonesian scientists and journalists to address pressing rainforest and climate issues. In Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, we will launch “The Mekong #showmeyourtree Initiative,” working with influencers and artists in bringing the reporting stories to life through multiple formats of artistic storytelling.

By connecting teachers, students, youth, influencers, and professionals with the underreported issue of rainforests and global deforestation, our purpose is to increase quality discussion and cultivate more engaged and informed individuals and organized civil society groups who can build public awareness of the importance of rainforests and the drivers of deforestation.

Intertwining journalism, education, and outreach in different and crucial climate hotspots in the world, we hope to be part of a greater and unstoppable multi-stakeholder movement that directly engages in improving policies, market campaigns, and other accountability mechanisms, exposing harmful practices and holding those in power to account.

We hope to see you at the launch of this exciting new program next week at #Interconnected22. There are still opportunities to register to join us in-person in D.C. or virtually!

With gratitude,

Caption: Children return home after collecting food in the forests around the Aruwimi River in northern DRC. They carry cassava leaves, fruits, and caterpillars wrapped in bundles of banana leaves. In the Congo Basin, millions of people depend on the forest. Image by Glòria Pallarès. Congo.