Tackling the ‘Task of This Century’: Why Environmental Education Needs Journalism

Country:

Brazil

Author:

Flora Pereira
Pulitzer Center Staff

Collage illustration of hands holding a typewriter, a journalist writing a document on beige background — Image by Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock.

Editor's note: This update was originally published in Portuguese in GLOBO.

As COP30 approaches, the role of journalism in environmental education deserves our attention. Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, has highlighted environmental education as a critical tool in addressing climate change, adding that it is the ‘task of this century’, without which society will continue to believe that it is possible to live in opposition to ecology.

The positive sentiment towards climate action is shared by the wider public in Latin America, including Brazil. In Latin America, 88% of people support stricter climate policies, according to a survey by the European Investment Bank (EIB) involving 10,500 respondents in 2023. This is a clear indication that public awareness of climate change is growing significantly. But awareness without a deeper understanding and critical perspective risks students becoming passive learners, consuming dominant narratives. This is where journalism, rigorous, fact-checked, and data-driven, can play a transformative role in environmental education.

Combining journalism and education has proven essential in fostering critical thinking and raising public awareness of the most pressing issues of our time. Drawing on lessons learned from initiatives, such as those supported by the Pulitzer Center, there are four fundamental reasons why quality journalism can become a vital partner to environmental education.

Facilitates critical thinking

Journalism enables critical thinking, a key foundation of education. In this increasingly complex information ecosystem, where greenwashing and misinformation can be presented as facts, rigorous journalism sheds light on hidden issues and equips students with the tools to ask difficult questions and become agents of change. In the case of carbon credit mechanisms, which often present as a straightforward solution to the climate crisis, investigative journalism prompts us to consider how carbon credits reflect climate policies and impact the ecosystem and the lives of people, particularly those who are often underrepresented at negotiation tables. Encouraging students to question the news, to ask what narratives are missing or left untold, nurtures the habit of inquiry and guides students to remain critical about the information they consume.

Promotes territory-based learning

The centralization of knowledge production is evident. Educators in affected areas are often at the receiving end of the national-level curriculum, while students lack access to educational resources that reflect the issues affecting their own communities. In partnerships with schools and universities in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, the Pulitzer Center has identified a significant gap in environmental education, particularly in territories directly affected by deforestation, land grabbing, and ecosystem degradation.

When we bring journalism to education, it enriches education by making it more participatory, territory-based, and invites students in affected territories to reclaim and tell their own narratives. In Brazil, our partnerships with public universities and schools in the Amazon foster cross-sector and interdisciplinary dialogues within educational environments, integrating diverse forms of knowledge. The goal is to encourage students to develop critical thinking and propose innovative solutions. Journalism serves as a bridge between these different kinds of knowledge, helping to pave the way for students to become protagonists of their own learning process.

Builds empathy and a sense of agency

The sounds of trees being illegally chainsawed may feel like a distant reality for students living in urban areas, far from the forests. Many young people, especially in cities, feel disconnected and powerless, unsure about their role in the environmental crisis, as they don’t see the impact as directly as those in the affected territories. Journalism can help to connect context to their life, feel connected with the world, feel they can make a difference, and find purpose. Instead of simply sharing news in a top-down manner, journalism stories can be actively integrated into learning programs, helping students and educators deepen their understanding and build the confidence to address climate issues and think about possible solutions. By grounding environmental issues in real human experience, we help students understand how people like themselves confront these challenges. By learning about others, students gain insight into themselves, fostering meaningful, and empathetic connections.

Connects global issues with local realities

Climate change is the biggest global challenge of the century. Journalism provides insights from diverse parts of the world, connecting this shared global challenge with local realities in meaningful ways that foster reflection and inspire solution-seeking. Bringing journalism to classrooms helps the education community understand how COP and other global summits impact everyday lives, and how the voices of everyday people, including students and educators, can contribute to a collective voice that influences global debates. Journalism is a way to humanize what can sometimes seem too abstract or technical, while it also communicates what those at the climate frontline endure. At the Pulitzer Center, we have seen firsthand how the union of journalism and engagement can strengthen environmental education. We have supported thousands of projects worldwide that foster reflection, inspire action, and shed light on some of the most pressing issues of our time, including the climate crisis.

Journalism is a key partner in tackling our task of the century: educating this generation and the ones to come about the environment that shapes them, and is shaped by their thoughts and actions. The Brazilian government’s National Environmental Education Program (PNEA) is commendable, and we hope to see journalism play a part in the ecosystem, so that environmental education not only informs but also empowers students and educators to become active citizens who can effectively tell their stories and question fake narratives once they face them.

References:

Flora Pereira is Chief of Engagement at the Pulitzer Center, responsible for the organization's theory of change and impact programs in the US, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Pereira worked at CLUA/Dialogo Brasil, creating and leading a Learning Journey with 21 environmental civil society, media, and indigenous organizations to develop their impact and audience-centered strategies. She has also held positions at the UN Environment and FAO, and was the Founder of Afreaka, a media and education NGO, where she was awarded the Brazilian Minister of Culture Prize for Independent Media. Flora researches southern feminist epistemologies, climate coloniality, and ecofeminism, and is the co-coordinator of the Ecology and Society Workshop at the Center of Social Studies at the University of Coimbra.