Please find pasted below Econnect Communication’s May 2002 newsletter. It is now almost 12 months since we produced our first newsletter! The theme of this edition is ‘Communicating for Change’. Your feedback is welcome. If you’ve missed previous newsletters, you can check them out on our website.

With regards

The team at Econnect Communication (Jenni Metcalfe, Lin Martin, Louise Ralph, Michelle Riedlinger)

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CONTACT ECONNECT COMMUNICATION – phone 07 3846 7111; EMAIL admin@econnect.com.au; website: http://www.econnect.com.au. Econnect is committed to planning and delivering innovative and effective communication in the natural resource and environmental fields to ensure a sustainable future. We work with clients and their partners in an open, respectful and cooperative manner fulfilling our commitment to conservation and social justice.

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NEWSLETTER 11, 20 May 2002

Feel free to reproduce any of the following articles as long as you acknowledge Econnect as the source; and feel free to send this newsletter to anyone else who might be interested and/or put onto our newsletter contact list. Past copies of newsletters can be found on our website.

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CHANGE AND COMMUNICATION By Jenni Metcalfe

The overall goal of much of the natural resources communication that I am involved with is to change behaviour or attitudes with regards the management or use of natural resources. Often, I think we lose sight of this overall goal and concentrate on strategies and tactics such as using the media, running workshops, producing a brochure and so on. This can mean that we’ve produced some very good communication products, but have done little to create change. So how do you create change in attitudes or behaviour?

 

I don’t think there is any simple answer to this, but you may find the following points useful when trying to create change in natural resources management or use. If you have any further ideas or suggestions, we’d love to hear them!

1.        Identify whose attitudes or behaviours need changing – this may mean putting people into groups according to their specific attitudes or behaviours that need to be changed

2.        Determine what attitudes or behaviours need to be changed and why – this can be the subject of a major research project! It may also involve determining current perceptions, concerns and actions.

3.        Find out the major drivers or incentives for change

4.        Find out the likely barriers to change

5.        Create and maintain a dialogue with the people whose attitudes/behaviours need to change – can be very time consuming, but can also include use of the media and informed public debate

6.        Share the latest knowledge amongst those involved in the change process

7.        Involve people in decision-making processes through open and transparent consultation and negotiation mechanisms

8.        Try to reach a shared vision that includes specific targets for change – a partnership approach

9.        Acknowledge other people’s values, concerns and needs as being valid, even if you don’t agree with them

10.     Evaluate your joint success against the specific targets that were set

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CHANGING BEHAVIOURS IN THE ENVIRONMENT By Lin Martin

I had the most fortunate opportunity to participate in a Queensland Parks and Wildlife interpretive workshop conducted by US interpretive guru Dr Sam Ham. Sam is particularly interesting as he approaches communication from a psychological perspective.

 

He began by challenging us – environmental communicators are not normal. In terms of bell curves and norms we are all out there on the flat lines!! What is normal about caring about plants, animals, water quality etc so much that we commit our professional and personal lives to these ideals? The ‘normal’ people are the ‘masses in the middle’ of the bell curve, they are the ones we wish to influence through effective communication.

 

Most interpretation is about getting people to do the “right thing” regarding the environment. We cannot change behaviors through communication – but we can reinforce behaviours and create new behaviours. Hence our objectives should be about “creating” positive behaviors rather than changing behaviors.

 

We must be clear about the objectives of our communication and Sam stresses that our objectives should be observable and measurable in terms of behaviours. We’ve all written objectives with fuzzy words like ‘educate’, ‘enhance’… but he says these kinds of objectives are inadequate. Until we can clearly see our outcomes- how can we produce effective communication?

 

Sam says we cannot change people’s values, but we can influence their beliefs about the impacts of their behaviour. Human behaviour is rational and consistent with what we believe to be. Effective communication targets beliefs, not attitudes.

 

So our challenge as communicators is to prove a belief that is wrong or come up with something new to replace that belief. Providing evidence is the best way to change beliefs. Fear also works too (e.g. if you feed that dingo your children may be attacked).

 

I have just scratched the surface of his most excellent workshop… it challenged a few of my assumptions. And thanks to Pam Harmon Price, QPWS, for making it happen and for supplying these additional change-related points from the workshop.

 

* It is unlikely we will convince people to love nature like we do. Our goal should not be to change people, but to get them to behave the way we want them to.

*If you know what someone likes, you can predict the behaviour. Target the beliefs behind the behaviour/attitude, not the behaviour.

*Find out the critically important beliefs behind behaviour (salient beliefs).

*Use novelty, strength and relevance to promote good behaviour.

*Use the central route of persuasion (logic, evidence) to get people to behave differently. Peripheral cues (credible source, catchy title etc) are not as persuasive as the central route but can still be used effectively.

*Motivation (being motivated to do it) and capability (being able to understand the message) are the two main things which engage people with the message.

*Inconsistency in attitudes produces pressure to change. If someone we like and admire practices a particular behaviour, we are more likely to do the same.

*Labelling can work. People associate or disassociate themselves with labels like greenies, environmental vandals, responsible citizens.

*Always explain the consequences of people’s actions because people want to “do the right thing”. Get people to focus on norms.

*Diverse audiences get messages in different ways, so use different media.

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SIX ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS TO A SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION PROGRAM FOR BEHAVIOUR CHANGE By Michelle Riedlinger

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Good communication can be a powerful means of changing behaviour but it must be planned well if it is to be effective. Six steps must be taken into consideration when planning a communication program with behaviour change as a goal.

1. Establish a system for gathering information
Good research underpins good communication. Data is needed to describe the scope and significance of the problem, to develop appropriate behaviour change mechanisms, to monitor progress of interventions and evaluate and measure the effectiveness of interventions. This may include necessary social research to predict the impact of interventions prior to their implementation.

2. Develop clear policy, legislation and regulation
Policy can determine the overall direction of behaviour change. Legislation and regulation support the outcomes policy aims at achieving. From a communication perspective, this involves getting politicians on side and involving stakeholders in the process. It is important to remember that policy, legislation and regulation that has the most impact can be well outside the sector in which you are working e.g. business investment in rural areas for environmental sustainability.

3. Communicate the information
Involves continually reinforcing messages and targeting groups with specific information needs. It includes informing stakeholders about the extent of the problem, the risks that they are exposed to with current practices, the processes they need to adopt and where they can access services.

4. Identify the services and provide resources
Identify and support the systems and services involved in putting policies into practice and encourage people to modify their behaviour. This is one of the easiest elements to plan for, but the most difficult to implement.

5. Share responsibility across the sectors
The systems and services involved in behaviour change often run across sectors. How much you earn, your social position, your level of literacy, and your culture and who you talk to all determine how effective behaviour change will be. The responsibility for behaviour change must be shared by many sectors.

6. Mobilise communities
Skilled communicators understand that no communication program will be effective without the input of those directly affected by the issue. These people know what drives their communities and are often the best spokespeople on the issues.

All of these elements must compliment each other. If one is not addressed it will weaken the whole approach. For example, wonderful communication without the legislation and services to back up the messages may be a waste of time. Ensuring that all of these steps are implemented will give
you the best chance of success.

 

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