ekosTV Links with United Nations University for World Water Day Mar. 22nd
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“Saving the Ayuquila River” is the first documentary production of the United Nations University Media Studio. It is an important part of a bigger educational pilot project entitled the “Ayuquila River e-Case Study”, which is an experiment on using documentary video and multimedia to communicate and educate on environmental issues.
The documentary and its accompanying on-line multimedia content focus on the threatened Ayuquila River in Western Mexico. The Ayuquila River was facing serious pollution problems that escalated in the 1970s when the federal government dammed the river and severely altered the natural ecosystem that local agricultural and fishing communities had been relying on for generations. Although the sugar mill brought economic prosperity to some of the communities along the river, the livelihoods of many of the communities was destroyed.
The documentary and e-case study examines the long struggle between the communities, sugar industry, scientists and government and how these diverse stakeholders eventually joined forces to find solutions towards environmental and economic sustainability. The partnership that emerged between these stakeholders received the 2005 Local Government Award from the Ford Foundation and the Economic Research Center, presented by Mexico’s President Vicente Fox.
The ekosTV connection to the UNU comes through ekosTV consulting producer Patricia Sims who is the writer for the “Saving the Ayuquila River” documentary. In the weeks ahead, ekosTV will be adding more multimedia features to the “Saving the Ayuquila River” netcast such as enriching background articles, links to the project’s unique e-case study model, and radio interviews with the documentary’s director and key players.
Relevant Links:
The UNU Media Studio home page
http://www.onlinelearning.unu.edu/
The link to the e-case study
http://www.onlinelearning.unu.edu/ayuquila
The link to the documentary on the Media Studio site
http://www.onlinelearning.unu.edu/ayuquila/film.html
