The Aliances Workshop “Beyond Jargon” by National Geographic and the IUCN Commission on Education for Development presented ideas to launch the next generation of communication strategies.
Beyond Jargon: The Next Generation of Communication Strategies for a Sustainable World Imagine you are in an elevator with a stranger. How do you tell him what IUCN does? How do you convince her to care about conservation? You only have a few brief moments to communicate your message. More than ever, speed of impact is a communications priority. Climate change is happening faster than expected. We can’t wait for 100 per cent certainty before we act. We need to look at new ways to get the message out fast, in parallel with our great science work. The Aliances Workshop “Beyond Jargon” by National Geographic and the IUCN Commission on Education for Development presented ideas to launch the next generation of communication strategies. This well-attended event took place 7 October 2008 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, Barcelona, Spain. Speakers showcased cutting-edge communication strategies to inspire attendess to try different approaches to drive conservation action: You can’t care if you don’t know. Use Google Earth to zoom in close. Get the squid’s eye view of the ocean depths, or an overview from above showing the devastation to mountaintops from coal mining in West Virgina. No more preaching to the choir. Try new ways to connect your target audience to the issues you care about. Creative examples used by a tree canopy scientist: market Tree Top Barbie to girls, ask prisoners to grow moss, write sermons about trees, take at-risk youth to the woods to write rap songs, transport local legislators to the canopy to meet with ecologists. Go local to build skills. Train local media professionals as video reporters on environment or health issues, like avoiding disease by not eating bushmeat. Your videos will be produced by people who best understand the language, and who know how to communicate with the people whose behaviour you hope to change. Also, go local for the inside scoop on special places that may need extra protection as ecotoursim destinations, and how tourism could enhance the life of local people. Tap into news sources that people already trust. An environmental information service called Earth Gauge provides a news service to television meteorologists. Earth Gauge links climate change to the local weather forecast, with tips on what viewers can do--ading value to the nightly weather report, and creating an opportunity to close the knowledge gap on climate change. One individual's story can cut through information overload. M3, one "bad-ass" wolverine, starred in a slide show about the need for wildlife corridors. Emphasize strong positive messages and do-able solutions, like the pronghorn-friendly fences that work for ranchers yet allow wildlife migration. Keep the message jargon-free: Animals need to be able to move to survive." A picture paints a thousand words. Film proves the point. Images of whale sharks being finned compelled India to place them on the protected list. Tracking the path of plastic bags into stomachs of albatross spurred Ireland go plastic-bag-free. Evidence of snub-nosed monkeys imperilled by logging in China. More people get their news from the Internet than any other source. It's an ocean of information, so we need to create messages that are visible, sought-after and act as agents for action and participation. Trends are for social networking via mySpace and Facebook, blogging and vlogging which empower grassroots reporting, and podcasting with its technical ease and global access-anytime reach. But how do you build community over the Internet? Virunga National Park's director started blogging about two years ago after the widely-publicized gorrilla massacre. Spread by word-of-mouth around the world, the low-budget blog now raises funds for park rangers and their families. Good reporting never goes out of style. Newspaper and magazines continue to reach readers hungry for context. Tackle issues on the frontier in a sustained series. A well-written opinion piece with strong research behind it is still a viable way to get out the conservation message. Speakers and Web Links John Francis, VP, Research Conservation, and Exploration, National Geographic Society Keith Wheeler, Chair, IUCN Commission on Education and Communication Sylvia Earle, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society Nalini Nadkarni, Professor, Evergreen State College Deborah Sliter, Vice President for Programs, NEEF Cristina Mittermeier, Executive Director, International League of Conservation Photographers Kathleen Frith, Assistant Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School Mark Bauman, Exec. Vice Pres., National Geographic Television Digital Studio Dennis Dimick, Executive Editor, National Geographic Magazine Harriet Nimmo, Chief Executive Officer, Wildscreen Eric Bendick, Co-Founder and Series Producer, TERRA: The Nature of Our World Emmanuel De Merode, Director, Virunga National Park, Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature Jason Kibbey, Director, Freedom to Roam Jonathan Tourtellot, Director, Center for Sustainable Destinations, National Geographic Serge Schmemannl, Editorial Page Editor, International Herald Tribune |
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For more information contact: cec@iucn.org |
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