Agenda 21 recommends that countries and the UN system should promote a cooperative relationship with the media, popular theatre groups, and entertainment and advertising industries by initiating discussions to mobilize their experience in shaping public behaviour and consumption patterns and making wide use of their methods. Such cooperation would also increase the active public participation in the debate on the environment. UNICEF should make child-oriented material available to media as an educational tool, ensuring close cooperation between the out-of-school public information sector and the school curriculum, for the primary level. UNESCO, UNEP and universities should enrich pre-service curricula for journalists on environment and development topics.
Agenda 21 also recommends that, while respecting the independence of the media, governments should use their influence to encourage use of the media to promote environmental objectives through measures such as televised public service announcements, licence conditions requiring a proportion of socially purposive programming, and restrictions on the advertising of products which are damaging to health or the environment.