“Media and Information Literacy” workshop was held in Banja Luka
“Media and Information Literacy” workshop was organized as part of the projects “Building Trust in Media in South East Europe and Turkey” (EU – UNESCO) and “Media for Citizens – Citizens for the Media” (EU). Emir Zulejhić, representative of the platform “Raskrinkavanje”, attended the workshop.
“Media and Information Literacy in BiH” workshop, held at the Faculty of Political Science in Banja Luka, brought together representatives from the academic community, relevant institutions, primary and secondary schools, libraries, media, non-governmental sector and all other experts looking for innovative, creative and sustainable measures of improving the media and information literacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The workshop was organized by the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Banja Luka, the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Sarajevo and the Mediacentar Foundation. Deans of these two faculties, prof. Zdravko Zlokapa PhD and prof. Šaćir Filandra PhD, opened the workshop by addressing the attendees, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between these two faculties on this project and in the future.
Bruce Berton, the head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, also supported the organization of this workshop.
A well-informed citizen, meaning a media and information literate citizen, is necessary for a healthy democracy.
The academic community in BiH, non-governmental organizations, experts, activists and other citizens, signatories to the Declaration on the importance of media and information literacy in BiH, have launched an initiative for the adoption of the strategic framework for media and information literacy in BiH.
The expected outcomes of the initiative are the development of positive legal regulations, the adoption of strategies in accordance with the competencies of all levels of government, adequate allocation of public funds for the research and implementation of media and information literacy into the educational system in an achievable and sustainable manner, raising awareness of the importance of media and information literacy, and the promotion of media and information literacy in lifelong learning.
The workshop was organized as part of the projects “Building Trust in Media in South East Europe and Turkey” (EU – UNESCO) and “Media for Citizens – Citizens for the Media” (EU). The goal was to enable inter-sectoral discussions on media and information literacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to initiate the process of creating specific recommendations on the integration of media and information literacy into the formal and informal education system.
The promotion of media and information literacy as well as intercultural competences among citizens is a key activity of UNESCO’s strategy of promoting knowledge society and supporting the development of free and independent media, and universal access to information and knowledge as prerequisites for developing society.
Source: Institute for Social Research, Faculty of Political Science, UNSA