BU students joined others from around the world at the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, to discuss how digital media can tackle issues of local and global concern.
Eight BU students joined over 70 others from 20 countries for the three week programme at Schloss Leopoldskron in Austria, home of Salzburg Global Seminar.
Together with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and Global Voices - and led by academic, development and media experts – the students sought to develop innovative media tools to better understand media literacy and address challenges from climate change to women rights.
They participated in workshops and group discussions, attended expert-led lectures and developed case studies, innovative strategies, and media tools with the goal of creating real-life impact in their local and global communities.
Naomi Mihara, MA Multimedia Journalism student at BU, was one of those who attended, after several students she met from previous years told her that “it would be a life-changing experience.” Bournemouth University offers scholarships to attend the programme to all its students.
She said: “I believe the academy as a whole is trying to bring people from lots of different countries and cultures and backgrounds together to really understand that we are all basically the same and that media can play a positive role.
“The main thing I have really got a lot out of is meeting people from different cultures that I have never experienced before. My roommate, for example, is from Palestine and obviously she has lot of experiences I have heard about, maybe through news, but I have never actually met someone from that place.”
She added that she now felt “inspired to continue thinking about creative solutions to problems.”
BU offers scholarships to attend the programme to all its students, while staff also played a role in running the Salzburg Academy.
Dr. Roman Gerodimos, Principal Lecturer in Global Current Affairs at BU, guided the students as they analysed problems presented to them and developed case studies that reflected the issues of climate change, women’s rights and lack of online resources on a global scale - and the role media can play in countering them
There was also the world premiere of Roman’s short film At the Edge of the Present, on “urban coexistence,” as well as an advanced preview of the forthcoming film A Certain Type of Freedom, which focuses on youth and the city.
Find out more about the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change.
