The 7th Environmental Communication School vindicates the role of journalism in transforming consumer habits

15/09/2025

Organised by Ihobe and APIA within the framework of the UPV/EHU Summer Courses, the School is consolidating its position as a reference forum to debate how to communicate the climate and environmental crisis to citizens.  

The meeting brought together specialists in San Sebastian to analyse the impact of consumption on the ecological transition and share experiences that connect with citizens through proximity and emotions. 

The seventh edition of the Environmental Communication School, organised by Ihobe and the Association of Environmental Information Journalists (APIA) within the framework of the UPV/EHU Summer Courses, was held last Thursday in San Sebastian and has consolidated its position as a reference forum in the reflection on how to communicate major environmental challenges. 

At the institutional opening, Idoia Otaegui, Academic Director of the UPV/EHU Summer Courses Foundation, Alexander Boto Bastegieta, General Manager of Ihobe, and María García de la Fuente President of APIA, agreed on the key role of communication to bring issues such as the climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity, the circular economy or the natural heritage preservation closer to citizens. 

"Individual habits multiplied on a social scale become levers of collective transformation, and we need stories that make the link between the everyday and the global visible," Otaegui said. Alexander Boto pointed out that this year's edition has focused on the relationship between consumption, gastronomy and communication: "Consumption is the major environmental challenge faced by us. We will analyse how our habits are linked to environmental impact and the need for citizens to have accurate and rigorous information to make responsible decisions”. In his speech, García de la Fuente recalled the School’s path since 2019, addressing issues such as biodiversity, energy transition or communication with young people, and highlighted that "journalism is responsible for ensuring that the environment is present in the daily life of citizens". 

Greenwashing and citizen empowerment 

The first conversation of the day focused on the impact of the new European regulations against greenwashing, with the presentation by José María Fernández Alcalá, Director of Circular Economy at Ihobe, moderated by the President of the Basque Association of Journalists, Amaia Goikoetxea Marques. 

Fernández Alcalá warned of the proliferation of ambiguous or misleading messages in the communication of allegedly sustainable products and services, which is eroding public confidence: "Everything seems to be green, ecological or circular, and this has a detrimental effect. The new EU directive seeks precisely to empower consumers for the ecological transition. 

The legislation, which must be transposed by 2026, will prohibit certain unfair trading practices and strengthen official eco-labelling schemes. According to Fernández Alcalá, the challenge will be to turn citizens' concern for the environment into real habits of sustainable consumption, without sustainability necessarily entailing extra costs. 

"We have to make things easy and affordable. We cannot allow sustainability to be only for the rich", he highlighted, and also pointed to the crucial role of journalism in conveying "rigorous information in a comprehensible and didactic way and without scaremongering". 

Critical versus responsible consumption 

The second conversation, entitled 'Consumption as a tool for environmental communication', featured the participation of journalist Laura Villadiego, co-founder of the Carro de Combate research project, and was moderated by Jon Egaña, Head of News at Cadena SER Euskadi. 

Villadiego pointed out that consumption is, in itself, a political tool and one of the most powerful ways of launching messages about the economic and social system we want. However, she has denounced how the industry has appropriated this narrative to shift all responsibility onto the consumer, instead of assuming it as producers. For this reason, Carro de Combate has moved from talking about "responsible consumption" to "critical consumption". "I don't want people to feel guilty, I want them to be annoyed, to see that we are being cheated. The important thing is to know what is behind what we consume: production processes, social and environmental impact," she stressed. 

Among the key ideas she shared, she pointed out that the first choice should be to consume less: "Trying to maintain the same volume of existing consumption but with sustainable standards is impossible. The planet does not have that carrying capacity. 

Success Stories: experiences that inspire 

Then, the journalist Begoña Beristain moderated a space devoted to showing how specific environmental communication projects can connect with citizens through emotion and proximity. 

Javier Rico, journalist and environmental educator, has presented his A ver aves project, an initiative that brings birdwatching to schoolchildren and adults in everyday urban environments. His proposal, which emerged in 2012, shows that biodiversity is also present in nearby parks and gardens, and that discovering it first-hand arouses curiosity and environmental commitment. For Rico, the key is for children to experience nature as an "open book" that they can touch, hear and feel. "Environmental education cannot remain a one-off event, it must be transversal and daily", he reflected. 

The journalist and writer César Javier Palacios shared his experience with Catas de Paisajes, a project that invites you to "taste" the natural environment with all five senses, in the same way as you enjoy a wine. Palacios defended the importance of communicating through emotion and recovering the connection with the rural and local world: "We lack time and curiosity. Tasting the landscape is a way of rediscovering what we have forgotten". 

They both agreed on the need to strengthen direct, close and emotional environmental communication, capable of counteracting information saturation and awakening the interest of citizens in the midst of the current climate and biodiversity crisis. 

Eco-labels workshop and a visit to the Basque Culinary Center  

The session at Miramar Palace ended in the afternoon with a practical session on eco-labels for those who followed the course on-line. Gorane Ibarra González, Head of Ihobe's European Eco-label, explained the types of labels and environmental markers that exist on the market, and offered tools to distinguish which seals offer truthful and rigorous information and help citizens make responsible consumption decisions. 

Those who attended in person visited the Basque Culinary Center to learn first-hand about the sustainability strategy followed by the institution devoted to training and research in gastronomy and food.