DME Media School hosted a unique one-day research conference on ‘Global Environment Learning, Training and Teaching Activities’. This one-day international conference was organized on October 31, 2023 at Studio-62 of DME. The conference was organized by RELTTAW (Research on Learning: Training and Teaching Activities Worldwide) in collaboration with VEIU (Vision for Excellence International Universities), TMP Group, Fides, Denmark, ADI Africa, ECHO and GMEC (Global Media Education Council), India .
The inauguration ceremony of this unique session was attended by Dr. Ravikant Swami, Director, DME; Shri Ujjwal Choudhary, Vice Chairman, GMEC and Member, Organizing Committee, ReLTTAW; Professor (Dr) Ambrish Saxena, Dean of DME Media School; Dr. Susmita Bala, Head of DME Media School and Ms. Corina Suzdia, Founder, Coordinator of the Romanian European Project of ReLTTAW graced the occasion.
Conference participants included a delegation of teachers, researchers and trainers, joined by more than 30 scholars from Europe, Asia and Africa. All the participants came from different countries including Italy, Denmark, Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Congo, Yemen and Somalia.
The session was started by Dr. Manasvi Maheshwari, Associate Professor, DME Media School. In which he highlighted the importance of this conference organized to observe and bring changes in the DME campus. Dr. Susmita Bala welcomed all the scholars and guests on behalf of DME Media School and explained the importance of the conference. Emphasizing the seriousness of the issue, Dr. Ravikant Swamy expressed his concern. Measuring the severity of climate change on the economies of developing countries, he said, “Climate change issues like waste dumping and pollution are more prevalent in developing countries than in poor countries and this is worrying”.
Dr. Ambrish Saxena informed all the guests and participants about various initiatives taken by GMEC and DME Media School to raise awareness about climate change. Meanwhile, Ms. Corina emphasized that change can be brought only with the cooperation of academicians, private sector and local people. Meanwhile, Ujjwal Chaudhary expressed his concern about climate change. He expressed his condolences not only to all human life but also to the most popular tourist destinations in India such as the Taj Mahal, water resources such as the Ganga-Yamuna rivers and the people forced to breathe poor air quality.
After the inaugural session, paper presentation session was also organized by the delegates. The presentation session was presided over by Dr. Susmita Bala and Dr. Pramod Ku. Pandey, Assistant Professor, DME School. A total of 14 presentations were made by participants from nine different countries on the topic of paper presentation ‘Our Planet Earth and its Desertification – Causes & Effects’.
Various topics of paper presentations included increasing desertification in India, Nepal and other parts of the world, importance and scenario of technology and digitalization on teaching and learning in Jordan. The presentation of topics like historical tourism and urbanization in Kazakhstan and Japan, initiatives to bring positive climate change and preserve biodiversity in Yemen, negative impact of climate change on Sri Lanka etc. gave other participants a new opportunity to see the global perspective.
The paper presentation session was followed by a panel discussion session in which Dr. Ambrish Saxena, Mr. Ujjwal Chaudhary, Ms. Corina Sujadiya and Dr. Ryo Takahashi, Professor, American University of Sovereign Nations participated as panelists. The topic of the panel discussion was ‘Media and Climate Change in Different Countries’. During the discussion, the panelists brought forward the importance of media not only in bringing awareness about various climate issues but also in changing the behavior of people exposed to different types of media content like news, entertainment and even films .
However, Professor Ujjwal Chaudhary lamented the fact that not many films have been made on climate change. Talking about Indian journalism ignoring it, he said, “There is no place for environmental coverage in Indian journalism and it is dominated only by political issues.” He also stressed the need to implement policies effectively with the cooperation of media, teachers, local population and even the private sector.
During the discussion session, while interacting with the panelists the representatives gave suggestions like rain-water harvesting, need for small steps for behavior change, need for conservation and sharing it with the needy. At the end of the discussion Prof. Ujjwal Chaudhary thanked all the delegates for their comments and suggestions.
After the discussion session, Dr. Pramod Kumar Pandey summarized the emerging points as a conclusion of the session and appreciated all the delegates for their contribution. Dr. Ambrish Saxena in his concluding speech thanked all the delegations for making the session a success and Ms. Corina for bringing all the delegations together on one platform. During this time Prof. Saxena assured RELTTAW Group that he will always support RELTTAW in their noble work of protecting, preserving and bringing awareness to the environment in the future.
The session concluded with the vote of thanks given by Dr. Manasvi Maheshwari. Apart from the participants and scholars from different countries, Dr. Ambrish Saxena, Dean of DME Media School, Dr. Susmita Bala, Head of DME Media School, Dr. Pramod Ku. Pandey, Dr. Iram Rizvi, Dr. Yamini Khullar, Ms. Ritika Bora, Mr. Vishal Sahay and Mr. Madhav Sharma and all the students who contributed in making this program a success. At the end, all the delegates, members and students were awarded certificates.
