During our field trip on April 10, 2012 we visited ForestEthics in Vancouver and the British Columbia Ministry of Environment in Surrey.
ForestEthics is a nonprofit environmental organization, based in Canada and the USA, with the goal to conserve forests on a large scale. With their campaigns they want to achieve changes in policies to protect forests and wildlife. To accomplish this, they get in touch with industries that use forest products like paper or wood for example. ForestEthics tries to find ecological alternatives to unsustainable consumption and to make industries to implement these. Of course, it is not easy to convince companies to change the products they are currently using. That is where communication becomes important. Science that forms the basis for the campaigns has to be communicated to the public. An important part to get the campaigns started is to inform the general public and the decision makers in industry about the problem that ForestEthics tries to solve. Outreach via social media, phone calls, press releases and visual communication tools like posters is employed to get people engaged for protests. These protests and hard-hitting campaigns put pressure on companies and convince them to talk to environmental organizations. So, mobilizing the public is a way to reach people in industry and to start communicating with them. When big consumers are made to listen and understand the problem, possible solutions can be discussed and policy changes can be achieved.
ForestEthics is a nonprofit environmental organization, based in Canada and the USA, with the goal to conserve forests on a large scale. With their campaigns they want to achieve changes in policies to protect forests and wildlife. To accomplish this, they get in touch with industries that use forest products like paper or wood for example. ForestEthics tries to find ecological alternatives to unsustainable consumption and to make industries to implement these. Of course, it is not easy to convince companies to change the products they are currently using. That is where communication becomes important. Science that forms the basis for the campaigns has to be communicated to the public. An important part to get the campaigns started is to inform the general public and the decision makers in industry about the problem that ForestEthics tries to solve. Outreach via social media, phone calls, press releases and visual communication tools like posters is employed to get people engaged for protests. These protests and hard-hitting campaigns put pressure on companies and convince them to talk to environmental organizations. So, mobilizing the public is a way to reach people in industry and to start communicating with them. When big consumers are made to listen and understand the problem, possible solutions can be discussed and policy changes can be achieved.
The BC Ministry of Environment supports positive economic outcomes for the province and wants to protect the environment and secure natural resources. Their main issues are dealing with waste water, solid waste and ecosystem protection. They establish policies for access to and use of forests, land and natural resources. The Ministry’s audience involves almost everybody. For example, if there is an environmental emergency like an oil spill, erosion or a sewage leak, the Ministry has to communicate with the responsible party, other government agencies, First Nations and the general public. The information has to be presented in a way that all the affected stakeholders can understand and everyone’s concerns have to be addressed. It is important that the Ministry is straightforward on requirements and expectations in response to spill events or other emergencies.
The main points of contact with the Ministry are their website and conversations over the phone. The use of media by way of interviews or press releases exists, but is limited. They often provide technical advice through reports, letters and talks at conferences. A new, planned initiative is Gov 2.0, an interface that is intended to save citizens time in the interaction with the government and that makes use of Social Media.
What I learned from these organizations about communication that applies to my own research is that the words used are different depending on the context. In scientific texts accuracy is very important and in communication with the media or public the right balance between accuracy and memorability or evocativeness has to be found.
