RESOURCES: Myths and facts of communicating sustainability

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

RESOURCES: Myths and facts of communicating sustainability

A roving “Environment Train” exhibition in Algeria, a radio series on pesticide pollution in Vietnam and a novel ozone layer awareness campaign in Costa Rica are among 16 innovative public campaigns featured in a new guidebook from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The guide, Communicating Sustainability - How to Produce Effective Public Campaigns - provides national and local governments with professional advice on how to implement communications campaigns on environment and development issues.

It covers the myths and facts of communications and proposes useful resources, as well as offering hints on how to get the best out of communications agencies.

“The impacts of our consumption patterns are no longer vague and invisible,” writes UNEP executive director Klaus Toepfer in his foreword to the guide. “Public communication has a key role to play to make sustainable development approachable and understandable. Informed, motivated and committed people can help us to achieve our sustainability goals,” he says. “However, communicating effectively about sustainable lifestyles is a challenge,” Mr. Toepfer continues. “One needs to consider not only what to communicate, but how to communicate it. The lesson to be learned is that communication styles have to be positive and tailored to different circumstances and cultural contexts.

Communicating sustainability can be downloaded from UNEP's website at http://www.unep.fr/sustain or from Futerra's website at http://www.futerra.org/publications.

Blogged on 4:03 PM by Upay

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