Young Reporters for the Environment celebrated at Winners Workshop

On 1 November a group of school students participating in the New Zealand 2018 Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) Litter Less competition were invited to the YRE Workshop day hosted by The University of Auckland.  Aimed at 11-18 year old students, YRE enables young people to be part of the solution by creating engaging environmental journalism through the media of writing, film or photography.

Workshop MC, Jason Whitelaw from LeanIn was extremely popular with the students, energising everyone for an exciting day ahead.  Firstly, student national achievements were celebrated in an Award Ceremony to recognise the winning enviro-journalism projects in the 2018 YRE Competition.  Members of the YRE National Jury presented students with their awards in the three categories, Writing, Photography and Film.  National Jury members in attendance were Victoria Hamilton from Mars NZ, lead sponsor of the YRE Programme, Jacki Key, Award winning Environmental photographer and Folko Boermans, University of Auckland.

Following the ceremony, the students embarked on exciting workshop sessions designed to stimulate their interest in environmental journalism. Previous YRE Winner, Joanna Tao shared her most memorable experiences from her recent trip representing YRE this year at the 2018 UN Symposium in Thailand on a full scholarship.  Award winning filmmaker, 17 year old Rose McMahon inspired students with her talk about her journey to success at such a young age.  The University of Auckland also provided speakers on a variety of topics from the politics of environmental issues to the study of primates.

Major highlights of the day were the Photography and Creative Media sessions, led by YRE Judges Jacki Key and Folko Boermans respectively.  Student groups took a fieldtrip within the University campus, capturing photographic images that told an environmental story.  They were then given just a few minutes to create their own news item around one of their photos, and with immense excitement presented and filmed it themselves!  Click here to check out the short video.

The Young Reporters enjoyed an action-packed day, filled with memorable learning experiences which we hope will be an inspiration to continue with their passion for environmental journalism. Photos of the day are below, or click here to see the winning entries.

Expressions of interest are now open for the 2019 YRE Litter Less competition, with all registrations or expressions of interest submitted prior to 31st January 2019 going in the draw to win a GoPro Camera! For more information, click here.

 

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