Spring drew the School of Advanced Journalism students outside. They went to explore the environment together with Environmental Journalism trainer Lilia Curchi, coordinating editor for the “Natura” magazine, executive director of the Association of Environmental and Ecotourism Journalists, and laureate of the “Journalist of 2015” award for covering environmental topics.

The first day of the course was initiation into environmental journalism. Students watched and commented on several TV reports on environmental topics, identified eventual topics, read laws and regulations, studied the websites of specialized public institutions and NGOs. To help them in writing articles, Lilia Curchi organized a visit to the State Ecological Inspectorate and to the State Hydrometeorological Service. Students discussed with the representatives of these institutions such topics as illegal deforestation in Moldova, poaching, the dump site at Tintareni village, water pollution, climatic change, air quality monitoring. They asked questions and noted down ideas that in the nearest future would become topics for news stories, reports, and even journalistic investigations.

A topic that was widely discussed during the course was the quality of water in Moldova. To see how good the water we drink is, the SAJ invited Maria Sandu, doctor in analytical chemistry. Together with students, they tested the quality of water taken from rivers, springs, and wells. Test results showed that the best drinking water runs in the spring in the Valea Trandafirilor park.

The last day of the course was dedicated to new technologies: Students learned how to operate a drone and how it can be used in doing environmental journalism. Cristina Straton, 2015 graduate, made a short presentation and description of a drone, and then students watched several TV reports filmed with a drone.

In the five days of the course, students produced three works – a news story, an article, and a material for a specialized newspaper section. In the end, Lilia Curchi recommended them to pay attention to detail when writing about the environment, to focus on topics, and to carefully follow the activities of public institutions and NGOs. “I hope that by writing articles you will become promoters of the environment. Pay attention to everything that happens around you,” she said.

Students were impressed by the course. Liliana Croitor, for example, learned that there still are a lot of topics that have never been covered before. “We should educate readers to be careful when they are tempted to throw a paper on the ground or destroy something,” Liliana said. This idea was supported by student Lia Ciutac, who is convinced that everyone should be aware of the harm we do to the environment. “This course made me more responsible for the environment and motivated me to educate people by means of my journalistic materials,” Lia concluded.