IUCN Head Environmental Education and Communication

This 10-page paper, which was presented at the workshop on "Communication and Education for Biodiversity" at the International Scientific Conference: Biodiversity: Science and Governance (hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, Paris) on January 26 2005, describes the change through transformation and learning that needs to occur in people in order for biodiversity conservation to happen. The author discusses the role and value of environmental awareness education and communication in light of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its work programme on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA). It draws from The World Conservation Union (IUCN) information base on communication capacity programmes in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.


The author highlights the following as lessons:

• Working with the groups of people who can influence change in practice - finding the key actors in conservation, for example, local and regional politicians, hunters, farmers, cattle graziers, and the judicial system.
• Working with opinion leaders in any stakeholder group as an important means of being more effective in generating a change in practice.
• Role and value of communication in bringing about change - using CEPA principles and guidelines for multi-level stakeholder involvement and the participation of social groups.
• Communication as an instrument to achieve objectives more readily than new legal or financial instruments.
• More emphasis on social change than individual change, for example, involve audiences in planning as part of a joint learning process towards a public private partnership.
• Internal and external change - management style may need to change to more inclusive partnership style problem-solving using strategic planning sessions, capacity building, coaching by consultants, and focus groups.
• Language and approach - working with multi-level stakeholders may require tailored language and approaches.
• Not just reactive communication - also proactive - including joint fact finding and investigation of opportunities for solutions.
• Humility and open-mindedness - acceptance of the possible solutions of others.
• Expectation management - clarity about who finally makes a decision from input of stakeholders.
• Honesty, trust, and credibility - CEPA can as a social instrument, provide clarity and build trust for other instruments, i.e., legal and financial.
• Scale and time - small scale pilot projects and achievable milestones may help avoid disappointment and frustration.
• Commitment and consistency - proactive feedback and results from monitoring and evaluation can help avoid stakeholder fatigue and increase project ownership and sustainability.

The final sections are on communication capacity and action. Managing proactive communication on biodiversity requires internal investment; prioritisation; tailor-made tools, strategies, and methods; and focus on developing and testing solutions. Capacity development requires mentoring and coaching by communication experts for ongoing training, learning from mistakes, and networking for learning from others and for access to information and advice.


The author recommends expanding the knowledge base of development professionals through access to short technical courses on areas like ecosystems, or integrated sustainable solutions. The intention is for the World Conservation Learning Network (WCLN) to build on lessons and meet the needs of professional decisionmakers in biodiversity and sustainable development by creating dialogue among stakeholders. These dialogues would lay groundwork to create university courses needed for capacity building using e-learning and distance learning, and to establish mentoring, peer to peer exchanges, networking, or face to face learning, according to the delivery mode of the university.