Transcript Beyond the 3Rs of communicating for nature

Managing social change towards
sustainable development in the
humid tropics
Wendy Goldstein
Graduate School of the
Environment
Macquarie University, Sydney
IUCN CEC Regional Chair
Oceania
A call to upscale our efforts
during the DESD
To really connect to people and gain
support for action we must connect with
• Values, motives,
emotions
• Context – Livelihoods,
community / sector
concerns
Haribon Foundation
• Current actions and
knowledge
• Goals
• And create a “tipping
point” for change
CEPA expertise helps us connect
and supports change management
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C = Communication, Capacity
E = Education, Empowerment
P = Public, Participation
A = Awareness, Action
• PAR = Participatory Action Research
“CEPA” used in CBD and Ramsar – Wetlands
CEPA – social instruments for
change
• Adds to science
• start a constructive dialogue
• establish working relations
different stakeholders
• mentor capacity
• Instrumental: CEPA linked with
other social instruments to
facilitate change – legal,
technical, financial
Uganda Wetlands Program
Change management requires learning
and adaptation at different levels
• Within individuals
• Within organisations
• Institutional - societal learning *
• CEPA is a vital tool
• IUCN CEC calls this New Learning
• * enhance a society’s capacity to govern itself in a sustainable way
Lessons and opportunities to use
CEPA to connect to people
Photo IDRC
1. Said not done
• Most governments, organisations and
projects state CEPA are important
YET
• Moral support or resources limited
• Few employ CEPA specialists – except
press, media
• Many un-informed CEPA decisions
CBD Communication tools
For Government Communication
• Integral part of policy
and service delivery –
not an after thought
• Must meet needs of
citizens, communities,
private sector
• High performing
departments have a
communication
strategy in place
CBD Communication tools
2. Frame the discussion
Reactive communication
• “Clean coal isn’t really clean; in fact so called
clean coal plants have yet to prove effective”
What is wrong with this framing?
• It states the position wish to displace
• Once the audience has identified the story you
are telling them, they stop processing
information
• NB don’t repeat the negative frame in your
communication
Frameworks
Reframe discussion
• “Coal is dirty. Coal burning
plants are the single biggest
source of industrial air
pollution and carbon
emissions. It is time we
moved to a new generation
of energy sources that are
clean, safe and renewable.”
• Frameworks
3. Clarity about “what is the issue?”
• Philippines community forest
legislation
• First idea – develop
community forest
management capacity
• Different perceptions
community – government
• Solution by multi
stakeholder discussion
• NB: Change in
organisation’s operations
and institutions
IDRC
Photo: IUCN
4. Being too ambitious
Assumptions: Think all people should support our issues. People have
deficit of knowledge - educate them. People look at cost and benefit
before changing.
(Source: Robinson, 2003, p4)
5. Jump to media and means of
communicating without research
P.S. face to face is most effective
Vietnam
Tam Giang Lagoon
• Unregulated aquaculture enclosures coastal lagoon
• Poor mobile fishers unable to make a living
• Lagoon environment threatened
• Local government officials unable/ unwilling to act
• No responsibility
IDRC
Lesson 6 - top down planning with
inadequate consultation creates conflict
• Stakeholders* worked on options – still
disagreement
• Local government went ahead and forced
net enclosure owners to relocate to open
up waterways.
• Result: violence between net enclosure
owners and fishers
• * Government officials, researchers, net enclosure owners, mobile
fishers
IDRC 2006
Vietnam - Next efforts
• New legislation fisheries co-management
• Local officials support new approach: participatory action
research with Vietnam universities, Dept Fisheries, and
stakeholders find solutions to the impasse
• Demarcate pen zones, navigation space
Photo: Tam Giang Lagoon Project IDRC
7. Learning collaboratively together
• Explore motives for change with people
• Doing research with people PAR (rather than for
people).
• Natural resource users as collaborative learners
• Build adaptive learning skills in the community
• Build social capacity for
different sectors/ interests
constructively engage
• Build CEPA /
advocacy capacity
IDRC - Gonsalves et al. 2005 Woodhill
Photo Grazia Feyabend-Borrini
8. Preparedness to learn and change the
way we work – organisational learning &
institutions
• IDRC - PAR leads to
different relationship
between the researcher and
the people
• Leads to changes to the
roles, processes, and
structure of scientific
research organisations
• Innovation in institutions to
manage active participation,
diversity stakeholders
•
IDRC
(IDRC, Woodhill)
9. PAR on professional practice
• Critically reflective
practitioners – lifelong
learning
• CEPA professional
development
• Critical friends
Important professional skill development education for sustainable development
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Sustainability focus
Futures thinking
Values clarification
Critical thinking
Systemic thinking
Participation in decision making
Partnerships
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ARIES Macquarie University A/Prof Daniella Tilbury
http://www.aries.mq.edu.au/portal/index.htm
ARIES change management in
organisations
To bring about and embed change in
• university
• business schools
• Industry
• local government
• ARIES uses EFS principles
and Action Research
http://www.aries.mq.edu.au/index.htm
10 Strategic choice of CEPA
Robinson http://media.socialchange.net.au/people/les/What's_best.pdf
CEPA - changing approach
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Focus on conservation
Focus on science
Focus on media
Telling solutions
• Behaving as experts
• Villagers as objects
• Planning based on
assumptions
Hesselink 2004
Wider social system
Focus on people
Focus change strategy
Innovative + collaborative
solutions
• Behaving as partners
• Villagers as participants
• Planning based on motives
of stakeholders
Where to?
Survey IUCN - capacity needs communication BD
• Limited resources
• Lack of integration in other policies
• Lack of knowledge of marketing biodiversity
• Lack of examples to get started
• Limited communication and networking skills
• Limited knowledge about how to
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Impact policy makers
CEPA planning, management and evaluation
Link between biodiversity and human welfare
Empower local communities
Opportunities for this conference?
• Define principles CEPA for learning more
concretely
• Identify opportunities for integrating CEPA
in humid tropics program
• Identify capacity building needs for CEPA
• Formulate recommendations for CEPA
Thank you
• Wendy Goldstein – [email protected]
http://www.aries.mq.edu.au/portal/index.htm
http://www.iucn.org/cec