Educating journalism students about sustainable development in Finland

We organise events and debates in Finland and train journalists and students of journalism and related fields. We want to increase journalists’ understanding of sustainable development, press freedom and media diversity – while promoting the conditions for a diverse and high-quality media.

We want to increase journalists’ and students’ understanding of sustainable development, freedom of expression and press freedom, media diversity and pluralism, and help them become more aware of their own potential to contribute.

In 2023, a three-year cooperation with the University of Tampere’s journalism programme will start. The aim is to develop and embed the teaching of sustainable journalism at the University of Tampere and in Finland more generally.

“Sustainable journalism” refers to journalism that promotes sustainability through its content, structure and practices. In 2023, the main target group of the cooperation will be the journalism students of the University of Tampere, and in the following years the target group will expand.

In addition, Vikes, together with the Union of Journalists and other partners, organises discussion events for journalists and the media industry. The aim is to raise awareness among journalists and the media of the current state of freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Europe and worldwide. We are paying attention to the situation in the Nordic countries, the rest of Europe and the Global South, especially in the countries where Vikes operates.

In 2023, Vikes will also carry out a study on media pluralism and start preparing an action plan to increase media pluralism.