With a new educational offer and scholarships totaling 2,000 €, the Professional School of the Leuphana University in Lüneburg (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg) will support the advanced occupational training of journalists in the area of sustainability. Beginning in October 2012, in cooperation with the foundation »Forum for Responsibility« (»Forum für Verantwortung«), it will offer the first certified course of studies in the nation on sustainability and journalism.
Sustainability themes such as climate change, Green Economy and loss of biodiversity are key issues of our times. Among media professionals, however, they are considered highly complex and not easily communicable. »The idea of sustainability presents journalists with new challenges which must be directly addressed«, says Prof. Dr. Gerd Michelsen, Director of the Institute for Environmental Communication at Leuphana University in Lüneburg and initiator of the new advanced training program.
The Master’s Degree-level certification studies program »Sustainability and Journalism« offers media creators the chance to expand their expertise in the subject areas of sustainability, and to practice the presentation of the issue in exciting and understandable ways.
Teachers at Leuphana, the first German University to have its own faculty for sustainability, will introduce students to sustainability research, and career journalists will impart first-hand professional know-how in the areas of research and reporting – with a special view to working methods in scientific journalism.
Interested students may apply for a place in the certification program, and for one of the total of 17 scholarships, until July 31st 2012. The educational offering was developed on the basis of a feasibility study supported by a DBU grant. Further information:
