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Changing Public Behavior > Themes > Message delivery

49 Total Findings

An effective stormwater public education program applies a multi-faceted creative advertising campaign that incorporates messaging through newspapers, bus shelters and municipal litter receptacles, radio commercials, and television advertisements. Provide door-to-door newsletters distributed to all residents. Provide funding to community groups for the implementation of projects that further the goals and objectives of the Plan while complementing city-led capital works projects.

Assure that different agencies provide consistent messages

Communicate information about a watershed initiative by:

Develop a strategy that reflects the fact that effectiveness of new educational programs may be hindered by insular nature of communities in which producers live. NOTE: This finding is not generalizable due to small sample

Develop, promote, and/or disseminate pre-developed materials, hands-on activities and grade level appropriate software about priority water topics.

Encourage businesses to take advantage of external relationships such as those offered by trade associations and courses.

Facilitate school-based watershed education programs through interactive resources and communication among groups using an interactive website

Facilitate volunteer water quality monitoring efforts through sharing success stories and communication among groups using an interactive website and listserve

Generate ongoing environmental change by initiating and coordinating pollution prevention activities through regional networks or consortia.

Grassroots community-based education efforts are effective in reaching at-risk urban anglers with fish consumption advisory information, as members of this group tend not to have access to traditional government communication networks such as press releases, brochures, flyers, and legal notices.

If providing explanatory materials by mail to residents from communities engaged in watershed planning, find ways to encourage individuals to engage. Keep in mind that only residents who take the time to review materials are likely to demonstrate knowledge mastery and an inclination to apply results.

In social marketing projects, focus communication messages on sources of water pollution and actions that must be taken, when the public is already aware that they should care about water quality.

In stormwater communication efforts, focus on TV media time during local news; and use radio to target specific markets.

In stormwater communication efforts, focus the media buy on specific regions where action is most needed, rather than statewide, and provide local programs events and activities that encourage public behavior change.

In video and audio communication materials,

In water conservation programs, there is a need to communicate effectively about the necessity for, effectiveness of, and fairness of the conservation programs.

Inform the target audience about the availability of a Web site that provides information they need.

Make information publicly available from a variety of sources.

Phosphorus public information campaigns need:

Phosphorus public information campaigns need:

Prepare youth to inform and engage communities about watershed information as a mechanism for reaching audiences who are geographically scattered when resources are limited

Promote resources through sources the audience considers credible.

Provide agriculture landowners with written materials in addition to whatever other communication methods are selected.

Provide information through field days, pamphlets, farm journals, media and books. These can contribute to:

Provide information to farmers in three stages:

Provide landowners with information in a handbook format and in a calendar, making good use of photographs

Provide one-on-one communication with a person engaged in the targeted activity to enhance the knowledge they gain and their interest in acquiring more information.

Provide outreach through external relationships chosen by the business, such as suppliers, trade shows, other companies, and publications to which businesses subscribe (Boiarsky, 1999).

Provide outreach through external relationships chosen by the business, such as suppliers, trade shows, other companies, and publications to which businesses subscribe (Lowrie, 1997).

Reduce emphasis on information from the government except for information about tax deductions and other incentives.

Rely on a targeted approach when developing an outreach strategy.

Rely on farmer personal experience as more influential than education or research reports

Social learning refers to the growing capacity of a social network to develop and perform collective actions. In promoting social learning in watershed management, it is important to frame information in such a way that a convergence of views becomes possible through interaction and collective learning processes, e.g. maps illustrating the impacts of water releases, as perceived by the users; graphs showing flow/time relationship and details of the hydrological regime; and field trips and video sessions to allow participants to see the impact of water releases on fish reproduction. Other useful tools include, for example, tools to communicate a vision about water management such as might be accomplished with a 3D model of a hydro-electric dam, a3D chart localizing all the dams on the river, video cassettes and measuring instruments, which testify that the water management authority cares about people’s safety, and stakeholder involvement in data gathering.

Social learning refers to the growing capacity of a social network to develop and perform collective actions. In promoting social learning in watershed management, use technical information in a way that supports local actors to explore and clarify their own understanding of the river basin. Beware of information or communication tools that are either poorly designed or used inadequately, for example with too much technical content. Those can act as a barrier by overwhelming actors with technical information which is not relevant or understandable for them.

Sources of information that most influenced farmer views about problems associated with groundwater and agricultural chemical use were: farm magazines and newspapers; general newspapers and news on radio and television; educational/research agency reports; personal observation

Time education with heightened audience awareness created by press coverage of rules release, public hearings and a compliance deadline.

To facility collaborative watershed management, design a multi-level communication strategy that addresses inter-personal, inter-organization, and community needs.

To increase resident interest in water conservation, three urban case studies (Phoenix, Copenhagen, Singapore) highlight the following successful strategies:

Train the person who serves as the agency interface with the public to assure that citizens are fully informed about options.

Trusted individuals can deliver messages effectively

Use a website to provide group connections and watershed resources

Use farmer-preferred sources of information and strategies for outreach about making decisions.

Use farmer-preferred sources of information and strategies for outreach about making decisions.

Use multiple channels of communication.

Use participatory, watershed-based planning as an effective technique for building public awareness and interagency coordination.

Use the internet for training new farmers in preference to other distance education techniques

When providing information related to sustainable farming, use conventional sources of information to convey new ideas rather than start a new newsletter or organization or other new source of information.

Work in collaboration with the professional association to publicize a course for golf course managers

Work with a collaborative to provide consistent storm water messages across neighborhoods in a large city.


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