New Media Convergence, Environmental Education and Social Change: The BGreen Media Literacy Project

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Monday II)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Educational technology and social accountability

Proposal

This presentation is at the intersections of international environmental education, community activism, new media technologies and social change. Environmental education and activism has been redefined by the proliferation of new media advancements such as online convergent streaming (television, film, podcasts, etc), social media, etc. One such US based online public access television show called The BGreen Media Literacy Project, is used as a case-study to explore the complex inter-sectionalities and cross-cultural impacts of this inevitable new media cultural convergence.

The BGreen Media Literacy Project is a multi-format, online streamed, pubic-access television show that brings together academics and activists from around the world in showcasing their environmental education and action projects on the ground that are geared towards social justice, participatory mobilizing and sustained social change. The show features interviews with professionals and youth engaging in critical discussions on environmental action themes and feature special projects from around the world that are working on relevant topics that are under-represented in the media. This is the critical media literacy component of The BGreen Project that focuses on the power of media amplification to create sustained social change and impact.

A new media educational and activist project such as the BGreen Media Literacy Project has the potential of connecting local projects with a global audience, generating critical transnational dialogue and communications, creating connections and fostering partnerships among various grass-roots social justice projects from around the world. BGreen's partnership with public-access media houses in the United States is also a topic of investigation and how public access television can be effectively used a transformative site for social change and progress that connects local and global audiences.

Author

• Fadia Nordtveit, Isenberg School of Management