First National Conference on Media, Peace & the Environment

The big day was Saturday!

100 journalists, students, researchers, policymakers, and concerned citizens gathered in Beirut to explore the connections between peace journalism and environmental peacebuilding. It was a really great day with some fascinating topics covered - and links made between quite divergent sectors in fantastic ways.

The programme:

• 9am ​​Opening 
• Speech by the Minister of Information
• Speech by the Representative of the Indian Embassy to Lebanon
• Speech by Vanessa Bassil, Founder and President, Media Association for Peace
• 9:30am​ Panel I: The Media-Peace-Environment Nexus Panel
• Chair: Vanessa Bassil, Conference Director, Media Association for Peace 
• Christina Boutros, Conference Coordinator, Media Association for Peace: Overview of MAP Environmental Media, Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation Project
• Linda Haidar, Research Intern, Media Association for Peace: Launching of MAP Media, Peace and Environment Report 
• Rebecca L. Farnum, Environmental Peacebuilding Researcher, King's College London, Nature & Peace: The Concept of Environmental Peacebuilding
• Bassam Al-Kantar, Journalist, Greenarea Website: Assessment of Media Coverage of Climate Change Issues
• Writer Habib Maalouf, Journalist, Assafir Newspaper: Environmental Problems as a Source of Conflict and Environmental Philosophy as a Doorway to Peace
• Veronique Abou Ghazale, Journalist and Media Researcher: The Role of Media in Sustainable Development and Environmental Peacebuilding
• Pascale Azar, Former Journalist, Annahar Newspaper and Media Researcher: Challenges and Opportunities of Environmental Media in Lebanon 
• 11:30am ​Panel II: Public Engagement, Education and the Environment 
• Moderator: Corine Chalfoun, Journalist & Member, Media Association for Peace
• Leon Semerjian, Co-Founder of the Green Party: Environmental Political Parties & Peacebuilding
• Ramy Atta, Journalist and Media Scholar: Media Professionals Role in Encouraging Citizenship Culture
• Dany El-Obeid, Environmental Researcher: “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation”: Religious Communities in Environmental Peacebuilding
• Jasmin Diab, Researcher and Project Assistant, Lebanese Emigration Research Center, Notre Dame University-Louaize: Educating Youth towards Civic Engagement for a Culture of Peace and Environmentalism in the Middle East
• 2pm​​ Panel III: Climate Change and Natural Resources Management
• Moderator: Corine Chalfoun, Journalist & Member, Media Association for Peace
• Walid Nasr, Head of Strategic Planning Department, Lebanese Petroleum Administration: Considering Peace and Security when Managing Lebanon’s Oil
• Laury Haytayan, MENA Senior Officer, Natural Resource Governance Institute: The Role of Gas in Building Peace in Lebanon and MENA Region
• 3:30pm ​Panel IV: The Garbage Crisis & the Civil Movement 
• Moderator: Ildico Elya, Host, Free Lebanon Radio Station
• Antoine Abou Moussa, Terre Liban: Waste Management, Conflicts and Peace
• Mario Goraieb, Project Coordinator, Arcenciel: Tracing the Links between Media, the Syrian Refugees, and the Waste Management Crisis 
• Assaad Thebian, YouStink! Activist: The Role of the Civil Movement in the Garbage Crisis: What Lessons?
• Foutoun Raad, Reporter, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI): Media Coverage of the Garbage Crisis & the Civil Movement
• 4:45pm ​Closing Remarks 
• Vanessa Bassil, Founder & President, Media Association for Peace

The pictures:

And now...the Planning Team will all go sleep for a week. :)