You name it - blogging, facebook, YouTube or mobile phones. They have all revolutionised the way we communicate, share and store information. With activists using satellite images from Google Maps to show locals the destruction of forests, activists brainstormed on harnessing the fast-evolving world of new media to meet environmental targets faster.

"As we are being flooded with information and possibilities, new media gives us an opportunity to affect change," moderator Chuck Philips, senior consultant at Reddy Phillips Consultants told participants at the IUCN World Conservation Congress being held in Barcelona.

The Internet has expanded the possibilities for activism and solidarity. "Participants from all over the world can be at the same place virtually, speaking the same language to try to change their own separate localities," Douglas Williamson, a participant from the U.S. pointed out.

Competition is tough though. NGO activists find themselves in the company of businesses, political parties, even football hooligans and neo-Nazis using the new media to arrange fights effectively and, sometimes, dangerously. Environmentalists want to make sure their message is distinct and won't get lost in the enormously expanding but confusing labyrinth of the World Wide Web.

"There's so much available online that you may become numbed, how can we avoid this media overload?" asked Rebecca Miller, from the Red List Working Group of the IUCN. "Ninety eight per cent of the stuff that appears on YouTube is totally useless. But you have to, somehow, learn to distinguish the trusted sources that send you the good links," agreed Williamson.

Giving an example of the proper use of new media tools, Katalin Czippan, from Hungary's Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations said: "Children are already skilled with video and camera tools and in uploading material on the Internet. We should try to help them use these skills in a conscious way like, for instance, looking for a new species or making maps of biodiversity," she said.

A concern that most participants shared was that with teachers not aware of the new media tools, teaching a proper use of these to children would be a big of a hindrance. Another concern was that while young generations have the means, they often lack a clear purpose, whereas those with a purpose, often lack the means. Answering these questions, Jaime Herring, a documentary film-maker from Cornell University, said: "Kids should show teachers how to use new technologies and teachers should give kids the opportunity to use technology for the environment."

With the right organisational and technological skills, virtual communication can materialise in concrete action. "In Budapest they managed to organise a pillow fight in the middle of the city in just a few hours," noted Czippan. But the so-called flash mobs living geographically close and rapidly responding to new media mobilisation is precisely what activists would like to use for something more serious than pillow fighting.

"Kids didn't grow up with new media; they are very excited about new technologies and have not been overwhelmed by it yet. Bringing new technology to them could help send an environmental message across," stressed Miller.