Hosting Awareness Events
If you want to inspire a community to be sustainable and motivated to take action, you must bring the community together. The first thing to consider is how to make your activity fun, engaging and exciting. Then, fit your environmental message into the fun. Including your presentation in a hike, movie night, cookout or competition will always attract more participants than just advertising a meeting.
Enjoy nature! Host events outside in the environment you are protecting. The goal is not just to educate your audience about conservation, but to encourage people to enjoy nature, feel connected to their environment, and to make conservation part of their everyday culture.
Consider your Audience:
Think about your audience and what they would consider interesting and fun. Children may respond best to hands-on activities and moving quickly through educational stations. Fisherfolk may prefer to hold meetings outdoors. High-level business, governmental or scientific participants might prefer informational PowerPoint presentations.
Promotion:
For many activities, social media and radio are great ways to spread the word. Other events, such as galas or activities with schools and government officials will require formal invitations and permissions.
ASSEMBLE YOUR EVENT PLANNING TEAM
• Create a planning committee far in advance.
• Meet regularly and frequently, even if the event is still a month or two away.
• Set up a recurring meeting( eg. every Wednesday at 10am). It may seem unnecessary at first, but it is good to get status updates, and to ensure that people leave space open in their calendar.
• Assign responsibilities so that every item on your to-do list has a name next to it. Do not add items to the list, without discussing and notifying who is responsible.
• Send out meeting minutes after each meeting with updates on what was decided, outstanding items and who is responsible.
Youth in St. Kitts and Nevis participate in a beach clean up. © Department of Marine Resources
EVENT TIPS
• Take care of your staff or volunteers. Will they need water, lunch or bathroom breaks?
• Make sure your event is ZERO WASTE. Plan for trash removal, use reusable or compostable utensils and limit paper.
• Consider permissions and safety. Do you need permits to play music? Do you need first aid, security guards?
Conservation Outreach Manual- Page 6