Sustainable Solutions for a Better Environment · SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT 9 People must participate fully in the planning process for new environmental initiatives

ACTION:FROM AWARENESS TO

Sustainable Solutions for a Better Environment

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I N T E R V E N T I O N S

Comprehensive Programs• Egypt: Egyptian Environmental Policy Program (1999–2004)• Egypt: Public Awareness on Water Scarcity (1995–1998)• El Salvador: Prioritizing the Environment (1994–1999)• Gambia: Engagement Through Environmental Awards (1994–1995)• Indonesia: Building Citizen Advocacy (2002–2004)• Panama: Sustainable Watershed Management (1998–2006)• Tanzania: Communication, Communities, Conservation (2001–2006)• Philippines: Communication for Coastal Management (1995–1997)• Mali: Environmental Education Expansion (1998–1999)

Intermittent or Short-Term Technical Assistance Projects

• Ecuador: Research for the Environment (1995-1996)• Guatemala: Communication for the Maya Biosphere (2002)• Haiti & Morocco: Sustainable Cities Initiative (1996-1998)• Haiti: Building Peace Corps Capability (1999)• India: Communicating Climate Change (1999–2000)• Jordan: Water Conservation Education (1994–1995)• Malawi: National Strategy for EE&C (1996)• Middle East Water Conservation (1996-2000)• Nicaragua: Communication for Protected Areas (1996–1999)• South Africa: Active Learning About Climate Change (2002–2003) • Nepal: Shaping Environmental Policy with Video (1996-1998)• Niger: Facilitating Land Reform (1995)• Peru: Enhancing Environmental Communication (2001)• Russia & Jordan: Strategic Assistance to GLOBE (1997–1998)• Morocco and Kenya AP3 demonstration projects (2005–2006)

A S S E S S M E N T S

• Africa: Environmental Education Assessment I (1994)• Africa: Environmental Education Assessment II (1999)• Bolivia: Achieving USAID Environmental Objectives (2001)• Colombia (1996)• Guinea: Environmental Education Assessment (1994)• Honduras (1995)• Lebanon: Participatory Environmental Assessment (1997–1998)• Madagascar: Environmental Education Assessment (1994) • Mexico: Building Environmental NGO Capacity (1994)• Namibia: Environmental Education Assessment (1994)• Paraguay (1995)• Tanzania: Environmental Education Assessment II (1999)• Uganda: Environmental Education Assessment I (1994)• Uganda: Increasing Wildlife Club Effectiveness (1999)• Zambia: Education on Hazardous Product Safety (1999)• Zambia: Environmental Education Assessment (1999)

PHILIPPINES

INDIA

INDONESIA

NAMIBIAMADAGASCAR

KENYA

TANZANIA

MALAWI

ZAMBIA

UGANDA

EGYPTJORDAN

LEBANON

RUSSIA

MALI

NIGER

MOROCCO

GAMBIA

GUINEA

MEXICO

HAITI

GUATEMALA

NICARAGUA

HONDURAS

EL SALVADOR

PANAMA

BOLIVIA

COLOMBIA

PARAGUAY

SOUTHAFRICA

ECUADOR

PERU

© 2006 Academy for Educational Development

GreenCOMFrom Awareness to ActionSustainable Solutions for a Better Environment

1993 – 2006

Center for Environmental Strategies

Table of Contents

GreenCOM Partners .............................................................. 5

When Awareness Isn’t Enough ............................................ 7

Case Studies

Tanzania ...................................................................................... 10

El Salvador .................................................................................. 14

Egypt .......................................................................................... 20

Indonesia .................................................................................. 26

Panama .................................................................................... 30

SCALETM: System-wide Collaborative Action for Livelihoods and the Environment ................................ 35

Learning from the Past, Building a Better Future ............ 42

WITH THANKS AND APPRECIATION

Over the years, GreenCOM staff, consultants, subcontractors, developing

country practitioners, and local partners have been fortunate to be led and

guided by a truly outstanding group of individuals at USAID, each of whom

brought with them unique skills and capabilities. In particular, the global

advances made by GreenCOM would not have been possible without the

visionary leadership and technical rigor provided by Dr. Anthony Meyer;

the gentle management style and tireless spirit of Kate Barba; the dogged

determination and skillful bureaucratic maneuvering of Michael Philley;

and the unbridled passion and boundless enthusiasm of Roberta Hilbruner.

And to the thousands of men, women, and youth that we interacted with

wherever we set foot, thank you for your innovation, creativity, friendship,

and dedication in helping make a more sustainable world.

Panama Canal Authority AUTORIDAD DEL CANAL DE PANAMA • National Environmental Authority AUTORIDADNACIONAL DEL AMBIENTE • Panamanian Tourism Institute INSTITUTO PANAMEÑO DE TURISMO • Ministry ofAgricultural Development MINISTERIO DE DESARROLLO AGROPECUARIO • Agricultural Development BankBANCO DE DESARROLLO AGROPECUARIO • Interinstitutional Commission of the Panama Canal Watershed COMI-SION • INTERINSTITUCIONAL DE LA CUENCA HIDROGRAFICA • Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency •Environmental Quality International - Egypt • Cairo Cartoon • El Zanaty & Associates • Intermarkets Advertising •

National Parks of Egypt • Red Sea Rangers • Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs - Egypt • Tourism DevelopmentAuthority - Egypt • Red Sea Governorate • Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (Egypt) • Egyptian EnergyService Business Association • Red Sea Sustainable Tourism Initiative • India Market Research Bureau • Chemonics •North American Association for Environmental Education • Global Vision, Inc. • Corporacion OIKOS • The KingsburyGroup • Porter Novelli • PRC Environmental Management Group • Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment –(Gambia) • Gambia’s National Environmental Agency • Ministry of Agriculture – Gambia • The Gambia Teachers College• Ministry of Education – El Salvador • Park & Forest Services –El Salvador • Executive Secretariat of the Environment(SEMA) –El Salvador • National Directorate for Renewable Resources –El Salvador • The National Patrimony Directorateof CONCULTURA – El Salvador • Salvadoran Tourist Institute • AMAR • SalvaNATURA • National Center for Agriculture,Livestock, and Forestry Technology – El Salvador • Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources – El Salvador •

PRONATURA • CONIECO • Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature • Ministry of Public Works & Water Resources(MPWWR) – Egypt • MPWWR Water Communication Unit • Charles Darwin Foundation Research Station • GalapogosNational Park • PACT • Himalaya Films Pvt. Ltd. • NEW ERA • Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources –

Nicaragua • Ro’YA • Pt. Asia Market Intelligence Indonesia (Synovate) • Pt. Insan Hitawasana Sejahtera • TNA • Pt.Fortune Indonesia • Global Learning to Benefit the Environment • Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism-South Africa • South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism • National Environmental EducationProgram – South Africa • Department of Education – South Africa • Department of Environment – Tanzania • TheNational Management Environmental Council – Tanzania • Tanzania National Parks • Africa Wildlife Foundation •Sokaine University of Agriculture • Tuskeegee University • University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center •

Department of Forestry – Uganda • Institute for Teacher Education – Uganda • Ministry of Education – Uganda •

National Environmental Management Authority – Uganda • Zambia Chongololo Clubs • Environmental Council ofZambia • Malihai Clubs • Wildlife Conservation Society Clubs • Roots and Shoots • Wildlife & EnvironmentalConservation Society of Zambia • Namibian Environmental Network • Zouagha Neighborhood Association • MunicipalCouncil of Zouagha • HMR Environmental Engineering Consultants – Oman • Ministry of Water – Oman • Al-QudsUniversity • High Commission for Water and Forests • Ministry of Agriculture Rural Development • InternationalCenter for Research in Agroforestry • Maya Biosphere Project advisory committee • CONAP – Guatemala • MayaBiosphere Ambassadors • Guatemalan Congressional Environmental Commission • Peace Corps/Guatemala • WaterManagement and Sanitation Authority – Haiti • Centres pour le Developpement et la Sante – Haiti • CADEPA – Haiti •Ministry of Environment and Forestry – India • Centre for Environment Education – India • Ministry of Forestry –Indonesia • National Development Planning Agency – Indonesia • Ministry of Environment – Indonesia •Multilateral Working Group on WaterResources – Middle East WaterConservation • Ministry of Forestsand Soil Conservation – Nepal •The Department of NationalParks and Wildlife Conservation– Nepal • Center for Excellencein Coastal ResourcesManagement at SillimanUniversity • Perm State TeacherTraining University – Russia •Perm Environmental ProtectionCommittee – Russia

We Acknowledge our GreenCOM Partners

Women from the Targanine Cooperative in Tiout collect argan nut from a forest in southern Morocco

By 1993, it had become clear to theUnited States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) that increasingawareness among the general populationwas not sufficient in itself to resolveenvironmental and natural resourceproblems in many developing countries.As a result, USAID decided to replicateits successes in the health sector, wherecommunication and social marketing had

been used to effectively generate positivechange in people’s behavior, by applyingthose disciplines to environmental chal-lenges in Africa, Asia, and Latin Americaand the Caribbean. This represented anew approach to environmental andnatural resource management that putpeople at the center of all interventions.The vision that emerged became a globalinitiative called GreenCOM.

7S U S T A I N A B L E S O L U T I O N S F O R A B E T T E R E N V I R O N M E N T

WHEN AWARENESSIS NOT ENOUGH

In the past, many environmentalprograms offered technological,economic, policy, and legal solutions,with communication and educationplaying modest, secondary roles. Now,communication and social marketingwould take a leading role to helppeople change environmentally unsus-tainable behaviors and maintain thatchange over time.

Instead of telling people what todo or not do, or penalizing them,GreenCOM would provide positiveincentives, build coalitions, and forgeconsensus for change at all levels ofsociety.

Instead of placing environmentalneeds over human needs, GreenCOMwould address them both. And projects wouldn’t end with increasedawareness. They would start there.

Through a contract awarded byUSAID in 1993, the Academy for

Educational Development (AED)would draw on more than thirty yearsof experience in applied social scienceand education research to promotevoluntary behavior change by helpingpeople see tangible, meaningful bene-fits to protecting the environmentand their natural resources.

Environmental Sustainability is About People From the start, GreenCOM’s ethosreflected a belief that sustaining theenvironment is really about people.People must actually participate fully in the planning process for newenvironmental initiatives and then besupported them in their pursuits ofsolutions. By working together,USAID and AED—and governmentagencies, nongovernmental organizations, and hundreds of otherentities—took GreenCOM’s approach

I N T R O D U C T I O N

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to more than thirty countries on threecontinents.

For thirteen years, GreenCOMengaged individuals and organizationsin innovative ways. It successfullybrought women, young people, andother often-marginalized groups intothe process of finding solutions,helping them find a voice to sharetheir concerns.

GreenCOM’s impact will extendbeyond the lives and communitiesthat the project touched. GreenCOMwasn’t just about the environmentand people; it was also about learninghow to design and implement envi-ronmental projects with sustainableand far-reaching, large-scale results.

GreenCOM helped many develop-ment practitioners to see that ahealthy and productive environmentcan coexist with economic develop-ment. It showed them that they can

work system-wide from the start andenlist the active participation ofhundreds of people across diversesectors—from educators, engineers,and advertising experts, to school-children, farmers, and homemakers.

Ultimately, GreenCOM helped toharness and then unleash the powerthat lies within communities andcountries to address problems on theirown. It gave them a framework formapping the context of problems,building coalitions for action, andintervening at many levels simultane-ously. These principles were illustratedin diverse settings around the world.We’ve chosen five countries—Tanzania, El Salvador, Egypt,Indonesia, and Panama—that webelieve convey what GreenCOMaccomplished and what it offers to everyone working to build a better world.


People must participatefully in the planningprocess for new environmental initiatives and then be supported by them in their pursuit of solutions.

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IN A COUNTRY where 85% of the citi-zens rely on natural resources fortheir livelihoods and 87% of the poorlive in rural areas, there is a profoundrecognition that people must managetheir resources in profitable andsustainable ways. Tanzanians mustalso protect their parks, gamereserves, and fragile coral reefs tomaintain the tourism sector—asignificant source of national income.

In 1998, USAID/Tanzania invitedGreenCOM to develop astrategy that would help coastalcommunities share their needs andconcerns about local resourcemanagement with national policy-makers. At the heart of the matterwere issues such as coastal erosion,decreasing fish catches, and thegeneral degradation of naturalresources.

With that in mind, GreenCOMinitiated a dialogue withcommunity leaders, boat makers,youth, housewives, teachers, andpeople who earned a living fromfishing. These stakeholders taughtGreenCOM and its partners about thechallenges, problems, andopportunities they believed coastalcommunities faced.

Their perspective was documentedin a video called “Voices from theCoast” that was distributed tomembers of the Tanzanian parliamentand to technical committees chargedwith creating an integrated coastalmanagement strategy for the country.In this way, the community perspec-tive reached people in positions ofpower.

TANZANIA1998-2005

C A S E S T U D Y

Ceremony in which local recepients of the Community Environmental Awards Scheme receive prizes

Why Awards MatterAfter Voices from the Coast wasproduced, USAID asked GreenCOM tocontinue its work in Tanzania byemploying a social mobilization toolthat it had used with success severalyears earlier in The Gambia. That toolwas known as the CommunityEnvironmental Awards Scheme(CEAS).

Awards schemes are a simpleconcept that often can produce star-tling impact because they take a posi-tive approach to tackling difficultenvironmental problems. Unlike othermethods that attempt to halt harmfulenvironmental practices by imposingfines or penalties, the CEAS approachis to reward positive treatment of theenvironment. The initial objective ofthe Tanzanian CEAS was to energizepeople in coastal communities to getinvolved in sustainably managingtheir local resources and reward themfor their efforts, both with modestprizes and recognition among peers.Participants would design projects thatimproved environmental conditionsand their own livelihoods.

Some of the original projectsentered in CEAS included seaweedfarming as an income-generatingalternative to harmful practices suchas dynamite fishing. The response wasimmediate and community leadersjumped at the chance to introduce analternative livelihood option. In onecommunity, for instance, local offi-cials were so impressed with people’snew activities that they established aperiod of amnesty during which dyna-mite fishermen could turn in theirexplosives without prosecution. Morethan 300 fishermen complied.

As the popularity of CEASincreased, the program began tospread to other parts of Tanzania. In

1998, 13 coastal communities partici-pated in the awards scheme. By 2005,20 communities on the coast and inthe country’s interior had active envi-ronmental awards programs. Thenumber of individual participants alsoincreased. In the 2001—2002 awardscycle, for example, 273,875 individ-uals were actively involved in CEASprojects. By the 2004-2005 cycle, thatnumber had increased to 412,865.

Through CEAS, Tanzanians fromall walks of life began to reshape theirenvironments and their livelihoods.Whether they were schoolchildreninstituting schoolyard clean-upprograms, or farmers building pondsfor fish farming, CEAS was mobilizing

C ASE STUDY : TANZ ANIA

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1993

Number of districts 13 20 20 20

Number of peoplewho participated 273,875 285,399 490,159 412,865

Number of projects initiated/promoted 854 1,706 2,542 1,956

Estimated number of people that attended 72,100 56,160 46,775 85,490 the prize giving events

COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS SCHEME PARTICIPATION

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

AED is awarded contract to implementGreenCOM, USAID’s largest-ever investment in using communications to address the environment.

GreenCOM TIMELINE

GreenCOM

communities for much-needed change. In addition to these benefits for

participants, community leaders whomanaged the awards schemes alsoreported a marked increase in theirown skills in organization, communi-cation, and monitoring and evaluatingenvironmental programs. In somecases, these improved professionalskills led to job promotion.

Numbers and official reports onlytell part of the story, however. Thepeople who have taken part in CEASare eloquent storytellers as well. Oneparticularly interesting tale, (see box)comes from Mr. Hassan Kassonta.

Hassan Kassonta comes from thevillage of Usega, which is located inthe district of Sikonge. He owns morethan 70 acres of land. Despite hislarge land holdings, he was poorbefore Sikonge officials introducedthe community environmental awardsscheme. The awards program changedhis life. What follows are excerptsfrom his story, as told to Nelly Masisi,a student at the University of Dar esSalaam who served as an intern withthe GreenCOM project.


1994

The Environment Has Improved My Life

“Two years ago I attended [the Community Environmental Awards Scheme] CEASceremony that was held in Sikonge for the first time. After the event, I wanted tolearn more about it. When I got back, I decided to put what I learned to practice.I started different activities including mixed crop cultivation in a new portion ofmy farm. Then I planted many trees around my farm as a windbreak and also forprotection of soil moisture and natural fresh air from the trees. The first trees Iplanted were Mlonge. Mlonge has the following uses:

First, its branches are used as animal fodder and [its] leaves as vegetables forhumans. Second, the branches are used to purify water and for fire wood. Seedsare used for making cooking oil and for cleaning water...I have a nursery of treesincluding Mlonge trees. I sell some to contribute to my daily income but also Igive free [trees] to some individuals and schools.

I also do beekeeping, which was my usual activity but in order to increasemy income, I started making modern beehives.

I also decided to engage in fish farming. I learned from the prize giving cere-monies that some people received prizes because they did fish farming. I wasvery anxious to know how fish could be grown in ponds... Now I have ten ponds.I now have a lucrative business; I sell my fish at TShs. 2,000 per kilo [approxi-mately $1.75/kilogram].

I spend most of my time teaching and sensitizing others on such environ-mentally friendly practices especially when I distribute seeds, tree seedlings, andfish to my fellow villagers. Due to my teachings, many people are now able towork on their own after getting enough knowledge from me. I am now a verysocially accepted man because of my willingness to cooperate and guide others.

I now frequently get invitations to attend workshops and seminars. I am nowplanning to buy a car and have very high expectations in the future.”—Hassan Kassonta

Still in its first year, GreenCOM conducts environmental educationand communication assessments infive African countries to help shapenational environmental action plansand policy development on environ-mental education and naturalresource issues.

The Environmental Awards Scheme is first intro-duced in The Gambia to increase environmentalawareness, promote and encourage public partici-pation, promote environment-friendly technolo-gies, demonstrate government recognition of indi-vidual and community efforts, and reward individ-uals and groups for taking positive action. Itbecomes an annual event with prize ceremoniesheld each year on World Environment Day.

FROM THE FIELD

EL SALVADOR1994 – 1999

14

EL SALVADOR’S BRUTAL civil war from1980 to 1992 left the country ravaged,its educational institutions ruined,and its people severely impoverished.Environmental problems includingdeforestation, biodiversity loss, andwater pollution also plagued post-warEl Salvador. In rural areas, manywomen and girls had to walk greatdistances to obtain water for theirhouseholds, and much of the waterthey used was polluted.

In 1994, USAID invited GreenCOMto participate in a comprehensiveenvironmental protection project withthe goal of stopping and reversingenvironmental degradation. In 1997,the objective was expanded to ensurethat rural communities had access topotable water and to mobilize thosecommunities around water conserva-tion. This program proved so effective

that it became the model for otherprojects in the region, including laterGreenCOM project’s in Nicaragua andPanama.

Rebuilding Through EducationAfter the civil war, El Salvador’s schoolsystem lacked even basic instructionalmaterials—and had none related tothe environment.

With GreenCOM support, theMinistry of Education created an environmental education unit thatpublished Science, Health, and theEnvironment, a curriculum forpreschool to ninth grade students.They also coordinated 90 trainingevents that reached 5,177 teachers.During the workshops, teachers wereexposed to—and helped improve—four environmental educationteaching guides containing activities

C A S E S T U D Y

Salvadoran children take part in an environmental festival

designed to promote teacher, student,and parent participation in environ-mentally friendly projects. In addi-tion, GreenCOM and the ministryworked with NGOs to develop a six-book children’s series called Retoñitos,for use in schools. The second editionof the series was published free ofcharge by a private business.

To complement these formaleducation initiatives, GreenCOMsigned a contract with El Diario de

Hoy, El Salvador’s preeminent news-paper, in which the newspaper agreedto devote one issue per month of itschildren’s supplement, Guanaquín, tosome aspect of the environment.Teachers used the supplements toenhance their lessons, and a surveylater revealed that many childrencarried out the suggested activitiesand experiments on their own just for fun.

Mobilizing a NationFrom the onset of this six-yearproject, GreenCOM made a concertedeffort to involve local environmentalNGOs in its work and to strengthentheir technical and administrativecapacities. During the first year,GreenCOM designed a training planfor NGO technical staff to improvethe planning, implementation, andevaluation of environmental educa-

CASE STUDY: EL SALVADOR

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GreenCOM TIMELINE

1995

GreenCOM initiates a three-year program todevelop a participatory communication programwith Egypt’s Ministry of Public Works and WaterResources to educate different segments of thepublic about water conservation and pollutionprevention. Six television spots on the country’swater scarcity problem were seen at least once by 87 percent of the total population (25.8 million).

Beginning in 1994, GreenCOM assisted El Diario de Hoy, one of El Salvador's leading national newspapers, to incorporate environ-mental themes into its Sunday supplement (Guanaquín) thattargeted children. Guanaquín promoted an annual nationalcontest about the environment with prizes donated by the news-paper. During the first year, 2,500 entries were submitted; by 1997,the contest attracted more than 101,00 entries. An evaluation ofthe supplement found that 85% of teachers interviewed and asimilar percentage of students used it as a reference source fortheir homework, planning science, health, and environmentclasses or conducting the experiments presented in its pages.

With GreenCOM’s help, Filipino communityleaders starred in ten episodes of Agrisiyete,a popular television show that focused onagricultural technology transfer. Thesespecial episodes dealt with coastal resourcemanagement, and the community leaderswho participated became outspoken advocates for coastal conservation.

tion projects. In total, more than2,700 technicians, educators, andcommunicators participated in the 56NGO workshops conducted byGreenCOM. In addition, GreenCOMactively involved NGOs in the devel-opment and production of environ-mental education training materialsthat were later disseminated to organ-izations across the country.

GreenCOM also supported the roleof NGOs in addressing local and

national environmental issues byactively involving organizations inpolicy development and buildingstronger NGO networks. During thefirst National Encounter forEnvironmental Education, more than1,500 representatives of environ-mental organizations, governmentagencies, schools, and the mediaworked together to draft a nationalenvironmental strategy.

Growing environmental knowledgeamong Salvadorans and an increasedpublic concern for the environment,partially brought about throughincreased media coverage fostered byGreenCOM, prompted theGovernment of El Salvador to createthe Ministry of Environment andNatural Resources (MARN) in 1997.

Changing Focus: Clean WaterWith a new environmental ministryready to act in 1997, USAID invitedGreenCOM to stay in El Salvador for atwo-year program to improve ruralaccess to clean water.

GreenCOM conducted multiplecommunication and awarenesscampaigns reaching audiences of morethan 1.5 million people. In one


“GreenCOM’s contribution in ElSalvador was timely and catalytic, andbecame a ‘seed’ that yielded long termeffects. It helped not only in thepassing of the Environmental Law andin generating the appropriate publicopinion within key leaders of theSalvadoran society towards an ‘infant’Ministry of Environment, but advancedin building local capacities on environ-mental education within government,NGOs, and key media. No wonder whySalvadoran journalists have excelled in international environmental journalism awards! No wonder whythe 2024 Private Sector-led NationalStrategy includes the aim of making El Salvador the cleanest country inCentral America!”

–Miguel E. Araujo PadillaFormer (1st) Minister of Environment

El Salvador

GreenCOM publishes Starting with Behavior,one of its earliest works on behavior changerelated to environmental issues. The bookgrew out of the project’s experience with asustainable land use program aroundEcuador’s Cotacachi-Cayapas EcologicalReserve.

FROM THE FIELD

campaign on water issues, GreenCOMaired 3,500 radio spots per month onseven national and five regionalstations, and distributed 7,000posters, 300,000 pamphlets, and18,000 comic books. These messagesmade the environment a key factor inthe 1998 election and, by the close ofthe project in 1999, 86% ofSalvadorans considered environ-mental issues a priority for thenation’s future.

GreenCOM’s strategy consisted ofa top-down, bottom-up approach thattwinned a regional media campaignwith community capacity building.Drawing on an approach that had

been successful when addressingother development challenges, themedia campaign used a familiar objectwith human characteristics to catchpeople’s attention. In El Salvador, thechosen object was a cantaro, the waterjug that rural Salvadoran women usedto collect water. With arms, legs,moustache, and guitar, it becameCantarito, a friendly spokesperson forclean water. GreenCOM reached atleast 285,350 people from 57,067homes through its multifaceted mediacampaign, with Cantarito educatingthe general public about preservingwater quality and quantity.

Survey results demonstrated

that environmental consciousnessamong the general public increasedfrom 15% in 1993 to 70% in 1999.

GreenCOM was about sustain-ability, and sustainability requiredbuilding local capacity. El Salvador’srecent past left many of the country’sinstitutions without the skills neededfor effectiveness. GreenCOM trained434 community leaders from 13municipalities on techniques toimprove decision making, manage-ment, and community organizations.This training empowered communitiesto enact 12 environmental municipalordinances and zone two sites as offi-cial municipal garbage dumps.

CASE STUDY: EL SALVADOR

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“…by the close of the project…86% of Salvadorans considered environmental issues a priority for the nation’s future.”


Interviews with key stakeholders ten years after GreenCOM left the countryrevealed that the project is over but the legacy continues…

1. In 1998, GreenCOM led a participatory processwith more than 1,500 stakeholders to developguidelines to promote and practice environ-metntal education nationally. The Ministry ofEnvironment and Natural Resources and theMinistry of Education are currently using thoseguidelines for designing the NationalEnvironmental Education Policy.

2. GreenCOM produced a set of four environ-mental learning supplements for use at theprimary and middle school levels. Recentlyteachers and advisors of the Ministry ofEducation have solicited the Ministry ofEnvironment and Natural Resources to produce additional learning supplements for kindergarten and high school levels.

3. The Grupo Compacto technicians and parkguards trained by GreenCOM, have served as amodel that was replicated elsewhere includingNicaragua and Egypt. They continue to provideinterpretation services in El Salvador’s five prin-cipal protected areas and are continuing totrain new park guards.

4. The Ministry of Environment and NaturalResources continues to use and reproduce aseries of educational materials produced byGreenCOM. Twenty thousand additional copies ofthose materials have been reproduced in 2005.

5. Coverage of environmental issues continues tobe high among Salvadoran newspapers andmedia. GreenCOM first published a series of

editorials in El Diario de Hoy; today La PrensaGráfica, the country’s largest newspaper, is also addressing environmental subjects in itseditorial section, keeping the public informedof pressing environmental issues.

6. The annual National Environmental Awards for journalists, created by GreenCOM, continueto recognize the efforts of journalists whopromote the environment through the media.To date, Coca Cola and a leading national beerand bottled water company continue to under-write and financially support the program.

7. Several universities, such as the UniversidadCentro Americana Jose Simeon Cañas (UCA),continue offering environmental courses originally developed with GreenCOM supportand advice.

8. Most of the community-level organizations(local water committees) that GreenCOMhelped establish in Usulutan Province in thelast year of the contract continue to functionwell. These organizations played a fundamentalrole during the reconstruction effort after thelast earthquake, and were the organizationalbases for subsequent USAID-funded water andsanitation projects.

9. The environmental education unit, created andtrained by GreenCOM in the Ministry ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, continuesto grow and play a fundamental role inexecuting the Ministry’s work.

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TODAY, EGYPT’S POPULATION standsat more than 77 million and continuesto grow. Most of this population liveson 5% of the country’s land area. Sucha heavy concentration of people insmall areas, coupled with a growingtourism sector, strains the country’snatural resources and environment.

The Red Sea, home to 1,000species of fish and some of the world’smost exquisite coral reefs, is a naturalwonder and major tourism destina-tion. According to the AmericanChamber of Commerce in Egypt, thecountry experienced a tourism growthrate of 10% in 2002 (the most recentyear for which data are available), arate 3% higher than the worldaverage. Tourism receipts reached avalue of US$4.3 billion.*

From 1999 to 2004, GreenCOMcollaborated with the Egyptian

Environmental Affairs Agency, theTourism Development Authority, andthe Red Sea Governorate to promoteenvironmentally sustainable tourismalong the coast.

Protecting this priceless resourcerequired changing the behavior ofmany people. And behavior changerequired education, system-wide inter-vention, and a connection in people’sminds between livelihoods, the condi-tion of the coast, and its reefs. Enterthe Red Sea Rangers, an importantleverage point to change.

*American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt,

The Tourism Sector in Egypt (Cairo: Business

Studies & Analysis Center, American Chamber

of Commerce in Egypt, 2002). Available at

http://www.amcham.org.eg/BSAC/StudiesSeries

/Report40.asp.

EGYPT1999 – 2004

C A S E S T U D Y

Red Sea Rangers on a training exercise

What Is a Red Sea Ranger?The Egyptian Environmental AffairsAgency created the Red Sea Rangersto patrol the coast and enforce regula-tions for marine resource protection.The primary qualification to be aranger was expertise in biology andmarine ecology. However, mostrangers did not know how to use theirscientific knowledge to educate localfishermen, dive boat operators, hotel managers, or tourists aboutprotecting the environment. Rangershad tremendous outreach potentialbecause their duties continually putthem in contact with many key groupswhose behavior needed to be improvedif the resource base was to escapefurther damage.

GreenCOM trained 39 rangers incommunication techniques so theycould function as educators and publicspeakers in addition to their patrolduties. They gained the capacity tointeract with, and, more importantly,influence the behavior of diversegroups of people. GreenCOM alsohelped rangers design a comprehen-sive communication strategy thatreflected the interests of people living

and working in, or visiting, the RedSea region.

In addition to strengthening therangers’ communication capabilities,GreenCOM helped them work moreeffectively with local environmentalorganizations, hotel managers, andboat operators to pursue commongoals of promoting tourism whileprotecting coastal resources. Boatoperators and hotel managers quicklyrealized they had a common interest:increasing tourism to augment theirprofits. When these groups under-stood that environmentally friendlypractices, such as proper disposal ofwaste, could raise the appeal—andthus the value—of the area, theyquickly responded by altering theirbehavior.

Red Sea ResultsThrough its work with numerousgroups in the Red Sea tourism system, GreenCOM achieved a range of results.

• The Tourism DevelopmentAuthority, the EgyptianEnvironmental Affairs Agency, and officials from the Red SeaGovernorate were broughttogether to declare the Wadi ElGemal area a natural protec-torate—a goal that was achieved in 2003.

• Hotel managers were taught howto reduce water and electricityusage without lowering the qualityof services. GreenCOM helpedmore than 20 hotels to cut their

CASE STUDY: EGYPT

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1996

GreenCOM TIMELINE

GreenCOM begins assisting theGovernment of Malawi in developing aparticipatory national communicationand education strategy, an importantstep in implementing the country’snational environmental action plan.

GreenCOM provides technical assistance toenhance community understanding of new forestpolicies, legislation, and the role of local communi-ties in implementation, and stimulate socialdiscourse on opportunities created by the newpolicies in Nepal. The program developed“community video letters” to foster “bottom-up”communications between rural forest communi-ties and regional and national policymakers.


GreenCOM and the Environmental HealthProject jointly collaborate on communicationinterventions related to urban environmentalissues in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as part ofUSAID’s Sustainable Cities Initiative. Results ofGreenCOM’s formative research supported thedevelopment of a community-based manage-ment system for the Water Management andSanitation Authority.

GreenCOM formative research in Jordan demon-strates that students from eco-clubs that used awater conservation curriculum had more positivescores on knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs thanstudents from non-participating clubs.Participating students who were exposed to thenew curriculum had more positives on an aggre-gate scale of social behaviors than their peersthat were not exposed to the curriculum.

energy, water, and waste disposalcosts. Seven hotels sliced theirannual costs by $200,000 each.

• Approximately 500 boat operatorswere taught how to reducedestructive mooring, docking, andanchoring techniques, as well asfirst aid procedures.

• Environmental education classeswere established in local schools.GreenCOM and Egyptian educatorscreated a learning supplementabout the Red Sea, and teacherswere trained to identify innovativeways to capture the attention ofstudents. The Red SeaGovernorate now requires allpublic schools to devote one classsession per week to environmentaleducation.

Timing is EverythingGreenCOM’s impact on Egypt was notlimited to the Red Sea. Through aninnovative partnership with CairoCartoon, critical environmentalmessages were spread throughout theentire country.

During the month of Ramadan, itis estimated that as many as 40million children and adults view apopular cartoon series called Bakkar.The star of the show, Bakkar, is a littleBedouin boy. GreenCOM collaboratedwith the show’s producers to includeepisodes focused on environmental

issues of importance to Egyptians. Twoepisodes spotlighted the work of theRed Sea Rangers to protect wildlife.

The first environmental-themedepisode was broadcast in 2002 andfocused on the Gebel Elba naturalprotectorate in the Red Sea region.Results of surveys conducted with

children before the episodes wereaired found that none of them knewabout Gebel Elba and only 2% knewabout the Red Sea Rangers. After theepisodes were broadcast, however,45% of respondents said they wereaware of Gebel Elba and 42% under-stood the role of the Red Sea Rangers.

CASE STUDY: EGYPT

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1997

GreenCOM TIMELINE

GreenCOM embarks on a two-year effortto strengthen environmental educationin primary schools and to use other, lessformal communication tools to carryenvironmental messages beyond theschoolyard and into community andfamily life.

GreenCOM provides strategic technical assis-tance to the Global Learning and Observationto Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) programin Russia and Jordan.

A second survey was conducted inconjunction with the 2003 environ-mental episodes of Bakkar. Again,results indicated a substantial posi-tive effect on children’s levels of envi-ronmental awareness. For example,before the episodes were broadcast,

only 7% of respondents knew what aprotectorate was. After watching theepisodes, 73% were aware and coulddefine it as a place where endangeredanimals and plants were protected.


1998

“The words ‘GreenCOM’ and ‘environmentaleducation’ have virtually become synonymousin many circles in Egypt. GreenCOM had aprofound impact on the effectiveness of thenature conservation sector beginning withcommunication training for our rangers andthe campaign to change their public image,to a whole range of quality materials…theRed Sea activity guidebook for teachers, thechildren’s books featuring dolphins andBakkar, the flip-chart for divers, the interpre-tive signage for Wadi Gamel National Park, aswell as by encouraging local environmentalaward programs to supporting our participa-tion in international conferences. But mostimportantly, the GreenCOM strategy ofempowering the Rangers to build networkswith key stakeholders…various governmentagencies, mayors, the governor’s office,community organizations, schools, hotels,boat and dive shop operators as well as themedia…ensured sustainability.”

—Dr. Mustafa Fouda, DirectorNature Conservation Sector

Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency

With the Environmental Health Project, GreenCOMconducts formative research in Fez, Morocco that wasused to develop a program for improved waste collec-tion and disposal and increase community participa-tion in the management of solid wastes. Evaluatorsdetermine that neighborhood associations successfullymobilize residents to clear out the illegal waste dumpsand prevent further clandestine dumping.

GreenCOM helps establish local action networks tostrengthen rural water and sewage organizations,municipal authorities, and citizen groups in ElSalvador, encouraging their collaboration inimproving water access and quality. A regionalcommunication campaign featuring Cántarito, afictional character named after the water jug usedthroughout rural areas, reaches more than 280,000people in 57,000 homes.

FROM THE FIELD

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IN CONTRAST TO El Salvador, where apreliminary survey revealed that halfof the respondents wanted to partici-pate in efforts to improve their localenvironment, Indonesians in 2002initially appeared apathetic abouttheir country’s grievous deforestationproblems. But appearances aredeceiving. Probing questions soonunearthed that this apparent apathymasked feelings of powerlessnessabout altering the situation.

Decades of corruption and weaklaw enforcement contributed to thedestruction of millions of hectares offorests. Illegal logging and fires set toclear the land are the primary culprits,and the devastation has had profoundramifications for this country of morethan 240 million people. In the late1990s, illegal logging cost the govern-ment an estimated $3.7 billion per year.

In 2002, USAID/Indonesia askedGreenCOM to create a broad-basedcommunication program that wouldspur people to take action to combatthe devastating environmental andeconomic costs of illegal logging andbring the issue to the forefront ofpublic debate during the 2004national elections.

GreenCOM’s research found that98% of Indonesians surveyed hadnever taken action against illegallogging. They perceived deforestationas an isolated problem, not connectedto other issues such as health care,floods, or the economy. More impor-tant, this research uncovered people’soverwhelming sense of powerlessness.Many people understood andabhorred the pervasiveness of illegallogging, but believed that their indi-vidual attempts at activism were futile

INDONESIA2002 – 2004

C A S E S T U D Y

Indonesian technicians receive instruction on how to address illegal logging practices with rural communities.

when pitted against major companies,government mismanagement, andoverall corruption.

Armed with this knowledge,GreenCOM created a series of publicservice announcements that showedrelationships between illegal loggingand government corruption thatprevented money from flowing toimportant public services such ashealthcare and education. Indonesianswere encouraged to speak up andvoice their outrage. At the end of thecampaign, 90% of registered voterssurveyed identified illegal logging as acritical issue in their choice of a presi-dential candidate and 62% believed

CASE STUDY: INDONESIA

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GreenCOM TIMELINE

1999GreenCOM assists Wildlife Clubsof Uganda to develop a five-yearstrategic environmental education plan.

GreenCOM and a Zambian radio station co-produce Chongololo Club of the Air, a radioshow created to help children avoid hazardouschemical products in their homes. The showfeatured a detective character named Mr.Chongololo, who also appeared in a children’snewsletter distributed in schools.

“GreenCOM Indonesia… [was]… oneof the most effective campaigns inwhich we have been involved. Theresponse to the Illegal LoggingCampaign had been very positivewith the new Minister of Forestry andthe President himself mentioning itas a priority problem.”

–Mr. Daradjat NatanagaraVice President, Strategic Planning

and Corporate DevelopmentPT Fortune Indonesia, Tbk.

FROM THE FIELD

that illegal logging had a direct negative impact on their lives, ascompared with 48% at the campaign’sstart.

Building Capacity to Get the Message OutVarious nongovernmental, regional,and community-based organizationsand government agencies such as theMinistry of Environment, theNational Development PlanningAgency, and the Ministry of Forestrycontributed significantly to the devel-opment of the media campaign. Ineach of its projects, GreenCOM tookevery possible step to ensure thatcountry policymakers and nongovern-

mental organizations gained the skillsto replicate the initiatives elsewhere.In Indonesia, GreenCOM recognizedthat—as is often the case—futuresustainability required capacitybuilding among these organizations.

From 2002 through 2004,GreenCOM initiated activitiesintended to bolster local and regionalcapacity and energize the nationalmedia campaign. For example, a smallgrants program enabled eightnongovernmental organizations tocreate and distribute multi-mediamaterials about sustainable forestmanagement to local communities,local policymakers, and the media. In2004, 1,829 representatives from

these organizations participated inworkshops focused on collaborativeaction for social change and grantmanagement.

GreenCOM also trained more than145 journalists about the negativeeffects of illegal logging and intro-duced them to effective environ-mental reporting techniques. Stafffrom local NGOs took the journaliststo visit places impacted by illegallogging. Seventy-five percent of jour-nalists and NGOs who participated inGreenCOM workshops reported thatthey had applied their new skills inthe workplace.


Water for Arid Regions, a GreenCOM videonarrated by young people, is broadcastthroughout the Middle East on United NationsWorld Water Day. The video was produced inArabic, English, and Hebrew to help educate youthon the need to conserve the Middle East’s scarcewater resources. In 2001, GreenCOM enlistedyoung artists to produce a calendar on the sametheme called WaterCare.

At the end of the campaign, 90% of registeredvoters surveyed identified illegal logging as a critical issue in their choice of a presidentialcandidate and 62% believed that illegal logginghad a direct negative impact on their lives…

GreenCOM collaborated with Nicaragua’spostal service and the Ministry of Environmentand Natural Resources (MARENA) to developeight new stamps, each of which commemo-rated a different national protected area. Someof the profits helped to fund the environmentaleducation activities of the Fundación Cocibolca,a Nicaraguan environmental NGO.

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IN 1999, AS Panama assumed controland responsibility for managing thePanama Canal from the United States,GreenCOM was asked to design andimplement a program to promotesustainable watershed managementpractices within the Panama CanalWatershed (PCW). At the time, only17% of PCW inhabitants recognizedthe important role the watershed hadin providing potable water and elec-tricity. It was no surprise that peopledid not realize that clearing forests andpoor erosion control adverselyimpacted the ecological integrity andproductive capacity of the watershed,the operation and maintenance of theCanal, and ultimately, their own quality of life.

The key challenges that accompa-nied Panama’s stewardship of the

PCW resided in the Government ofPanama’s ability to successfully engageall sectors (public, private, and civil)to appreciate and play a role inmanaging the watershed’s naturalresources. Concurrently, it was para-mount that an enabling policy envi-ronment be created to foster theintroduction and expansion ofsustainable practices for agriculture,livestock, clean production, tourism,resource extraction, and communitydevelopment.

Education and Communicationare Only the BeginningIn the first phase of assistance (1998-2000), GreenCOM primarily usededucation and communication inter-ventions to reach and engage thegeneral population. One such effort

PANAMA1998 – 2006

C A S E S T U D Y

Panamanian children enjoying clean drinking water

was an extracurricular program called“Guardians of the Panama CanalWatershed” that attracted more than700 middle-school students from 26schools throughout the watershed.Club leaders and teachers were taughthow to use hands-on activities toteach about the PCW’s variety ofnatural resources. In 2002, theprogram acquired the direct supportfrom the Ministry of Education, TheEnvironmental Authority (ANAM),and the Panama Canal Authority(ACP), ensuring the sustainability ofthese new programs.

Ecotourism development wasanother means to increase interestand support for the wise and sustain-able use of the PCW. GreenCOM partnered with ANAM and thetourism (IPAT) authority to promoteecotourism as an alternative source ofincome generation for both the parkadministration and adjacent commu-nities. To understand the best oppor-tunities for ecotourism, GreenCOMconducted a study of the perceptionsof both tour operators and tourists,probing their views on how to make

Panama a more attractive interna-tional ecotourism destination, andused the results to create a plan fordeveloping a clustered circuit of newand existing attractions along thecanal.

For the first time in its history, theGovernment of Panama, with theassistance of GreenCOM, issued apublic decree that challenges privateinvestors to develop new attractionsand tourist services (such as canopywalks, trail restoration, and tour guideservices) as public-private partner-ships. The first focal area for thiseffort is Soberania National Park,which runs runs along most of theCanal, and is within a half an hourdrive of Panama City. Promotionalmaterials, including a unique partner-ship with the National GeographicSociety to produce an Adventure Mapand Travel Guide for Panama, are alsounder development to help increaseinternational demand for the clusterof tourist destinations that will forman attractive and compelling circuitfor new visitors to Panama.

Capacity Building and Creatingan Enabling Environment Rhetoric about improved naturalresource management may come frompolicymakers, but true change—lasting, altered behavior—lies in thehands of people who manage or usenatural resources as part of their dailyroutine. For that reason, decentralizedmanagement of natural resources is vital.

With the transfer of the canaloperation and management, the ACPwas given the mandate to manage theentire Panama Canal Watershed inrecognition of the increasing threatthat urban and other developmentactivities posed for water quality andquantity. Additionally, pressure tobuild a new, wider canal to handle thelarger Panamax container ships alsocreated the need for dramaticallyincreased water flow in the comingyears.

The ACP was forced to think andoperate beyond its traditional engi-neering-focused set of activities, andwork for the first time with ruralcommunities and other government

CASE STUDY: PANAMA

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2000

GreenCOM TIMELINE

GreenCOM and the Centre for EnvironmentEducation in Ahmedebad, India, facilitatedworkshops for journalists to help them reporton greenhouse gas emissions and marketopportunities for carbon reduction. Reportersfrom The Times of India, The Hindu, BusinessIndia, and other newspapers took part.

GreenCOM II is launched

institutions that play key roles inwatershed management. GreenCOMassisted the ACP in developing acommunity participation model andin learning how to work through localNGOs to employ watershed manage-ment best practices.

The project also provided fundingand institutional strengthening assis-tance to NGOs to carry out a widerange of activities, including commu-nity water and sanitation interven-tions. An important measure ofsuccess was the ACP decision in 2006to allocate significant new financialresources to continue and expandNGO partner activities which promotebetter watershed practices.

The results of this program havebeen considerable. First, the ACPbegan to work for the first time withnongovernmental organizations topromote best management practices,and subsequently replicateGreenCOM’s piloted WatershedManagement Model elsewherethroughout the PCW.

Second, a major policy reform thatGreenCOM promoted—sustainable


2002

The South African Department of EnvironmentalAffairs and GreenCOM teamed up to produceLearning About Climate Change, an activity

book for sixth graders. The book was designed to get school children

thinking and acting to reduce pollution.

GreenCOM incorporated environmental messages aboutthe importance of the Red Sea ecosystem and the RedSea Rangers into episodes of Bakkar, a television cartoonseries broadcast each year in Egypt during Ramadanabout the adventures of a Nubian boy. More than 40million adult and child viewers watched each episode.Survey results conducted before and after the episodesnoted a marked impact on 7- to 12- year-old viewers,raising awareness levels about GreenCOM’s messages bymore than 40 percent.

livestock production—was adopted bythe Ministry of AgriculturalDevelopment (MIDA) to promoteimproved uses of vulnerable, high-slope lands. One notable success hasbeen that the AgriculturalDevelopment Bank (BDA) haschanged its policy to require compli-ance with key sustainable livestockpractices as a pre-condition for newloans, using the full force of their$100 million loan portfolio to stimu-late behavior change on a nationalscale. As a result, it earmarked $2 million specifically to promotebetter livestock practices within thePCW. The BDA has integrated thisinitiative into its outreach program byactively promoting sustainable live-stock practices in their publicationsand presentations, and integratingthe content into routine trainings for

its portfolio managers and extensionteams in the field to ensure that theseare the new normative standardssector-wide.

GreenCOM has played a valuablefacilitative and supportive role instrengthening the PCW’s inter-insti-tutional coordinating body (CICH), aswell as the development and imple-mentation of an inter-institutionalwatershed monitoring system thatmeasures the impact of watershedpractices such as sustainable livestockand pineapple production in tangibleterms such as improved soil qualityand reduced pesticide levels.GreenCOM also has trained land-owners to work together through localwatershed committees to identifypriority challenges and organizethemselves to address them throughcollaborative actions.

CASE STUDY: PANAMA

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GreenCOM also has trained local stakeholders toaddress these challenges for generations to come.

“Thanks to AED’s technical assistance,we at the BDA (AgriculturalDevelopment Bank) have been able to clearly envision a new and vital rolefor the bank which promotes bestpractices which are not only good forthe watershed and natural resources,but also are good for our producersbecause they generate more income.Now we are better bankers because it helps us to fulfill our mission as adevelopment bank in a more effectiveway. It is a ‘win- win’ for the livestocksector.”

–Cecilo RicordAsst. General Manager,

BDA (Agricultural Development Bank)

FROM THE FIELD


The examples you’ve just read about onlytouch on some of GreenCOM’s contribu-tions and lessons learned over the years.Yet several questions remain. How didGreenCOM unite different sectors ofpeople who had never before workedtogether? How did it secure the partici-pation of individuals as diverse as home-makers and policymakers? How did ithelp people improve their livelihoods,raise their incomes, and protect the

environment simultaneously? How did itincrease the awareness and willingnessof hundreds of thousands of people tobecome more active in local resourcemanagement decision making? How didall of this happen with small, in-countrystaffs, short project periods, and limitedfinancial resources? How can the knowl-edge created through this project beparlayed into future success?

SCALE : SYSTEM-WIDE COLLABORATIVE

ACTION FOR LIVELIHOODSAND THE ENVIRONMENT

TM

In short, it happened becauseGreenCOM’s many participantslearned that the best developmentprograms take a system-wide approachthat involves people as diverse asshopkeepers and environmentalexperts. They recognized that environ-mental, natural resource management,and agricultural challenges requiredcollaborative actions to empowerparticipants to become involved inaddressing problems and play rolesthat no one else could play. Theyunderstood that improving liveli-hoods and protecting the environ-ment not only could be, but must be,

considered concurrently. And, theyrecognized that instead of taking aproject “to scale,” it is actually morepragmatic to start “at scale.”

The circular graphic on the rightillustrates the SCALETM approach,which is the culmination andsynthesis of GreenCOM’s 13 years ofpioneering work around the world.SCALETM reflects what is known todayabout maximizing return on invest-ments in development by usingstrategic communications to drive themanagement of projects. This knowl-edge can be applied in the fields ofagriculture, democracy and gover-

nance, health, education, economicgrowth, and the environment. In factit should be applied in all of thesefields simultaneously, as it representsthe essence of a systems approach tointernational development.

SCALETM Works System-Wide SCALETM starts by identifying themulti-sectoral issues related to adevelopment objective and all of thekey players and stakeholders relatedto it—stakeholders as diverse asvillage women, entrepreneurs,farmers, bankers, technicians, andgovernment officials. It then invites

SCALETM: SYSTEM-WIDE COLLABORATIVE ACTION FOR LIVELIHOODS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

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GreenCOM TIMELINE

2004

GreenCOM launches a nationalmedia campaign and capacitybuilding initiative in Indonesiafocused on curbing illegal loggingin support of sustainable forestconservation and management.

More than 410,000 peopleactively participate in theCommunity EnvironmentalAwards Scheme in Tanzania.

these stakeholders into a “WholeSystem-in-the-Room” (WSR)* partici-patory planning workshop where theyidentify common challenges and solu-tions. It doesn’t give them a plan ofaction; it asks them to create one. Theoutcome is always far more relevantand productive than any programcreated by outside “experts” orconsultants.


2005

GreenCOM applies SCALETM to assist the efforts of the USAID-funded Integrated Agriculture andAgribusiness (IAA) project in Morocco to strengthenthe Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAP) sector and expand organic production. More than 80 local,national, and international representatives of theMAP sector participate and set a common vision for sector growth and development.

CATALYZECOALITIONS

CREATESOLUTIONS

ACT

VALUE Positive Impact: Environment, Livelihoods,Civil Society

Participation & Governance

MAP THECONTEXT

Assess process and impact,

strengthen stakeholder leverage points

Identify stakeholders and leverage points

for action

Commit to a common goal

Negotiatecollaborative, sustainablesolutions

Apply multiple social change methodologies


*Adapted from the Future Search workshop,

copyright 2004 by Future Search Network,

A Program of Resources for Human

Development, Inc; used by permission.

MOROCCO. Consider a 2005GreenCOM activity in Morocco.Project staff facilitated a workshopthat focused on improving thecountry’s medicinal and aromaticplants (MAP) sector. To ensure thatdivergent points of view were heard,GreenCOM invited a broad spectrumof people, including farmers, distributors, international buyers,representatives of nongovernmentalorganizations, government ministries,development organizations, and themedia. The workshop drew men andwomen of all ages, Moroccans andforeigners, and affluent and modest-earning people.

In just one workshop, multiplelevels of society began workingtogether. After three days, people hadmet, started to build trust, and real-ized that they had much in common.Once shared goals were identified, thegroups’ interaction became dynamic.They began to shape a common visionand made public commitments toimplement certain changes in thesystem to increase the value of medicinal and aromatic plants.

Most important, participantsbegan to understand that they were

not working alone. For example,farmers knew that potential buyers oftheir products were in the room, whichassured them the market potential fortheir product. Knowing that, theygained incentive to try new farmingtechniques and perform other poten-tially time-consuming activities.

Within months of the WSR work-shop, collaborative actions were beingsupported across a broad spectrum ofthe MAP value chain. In the area ofcollaboration and communications,the Project team supported the estab-lishment of linkages between keyAmerican and European industryleaders and buyers in the US andMoroccan suppliers. In addition, morethan 80 articles in three languageswere published in the Moroccan press,international publications, and eventhe UN journal, “Market News Service”.Major media networks broadcast morethan ten radio news spots and six tele-vised features on MAPs.

GreenCOM staff facilitated severalactions that contributed to sustain-able MAP wild crafting. In 2006,Project staff gathered 50 MAP valuechain representatives to increaseunderstanding about organic


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“The ‘whole system-in-the-room’approach that was tried out at theplanning workshop in Fes was reallyfascinating, and successful. Iobserved what appeared to beconcrete commitments to actionand cooperation, which is some-thing that I don't usually see at themore typical ‘top-down’ and less-participatory workshops.”

–Josef BrinckmannVP of Research and Development

Traditional Medicinals, Inc.Fes, Morocco

FROM THE FIELD

GreenCOM TIMELINE

Panama’s Agricultural Development Bank (BDA), a key GreenCOM partner inpromoting sustainable livestock practices, conditioned new loan approvals toinclude a provision that borrowers commit to implement a comprehensive list ofsustainable livestock best practices, such as grazing rotation, erosion controlbarriers, limits on overgrazing, and other measures. This new policy is beingimplemented as a pilot within the BDA $20M livestock loan portfolio, and issupported by its training, outreach, and monitoring activities with its borrowers.


GreenCOM/Panama engaged The National GeographicSociety (NGS) to produce a series of its well knownAdventure Map and Travel Guide publications to helpposition and brand Panama as a tourism destination forthe Society’s worldwide audience of 6 million experi-enced travelers. These publications will highlightPanama’s growing cluster of tourist attractions for recre-ational, historical, archeological and ecological interests.

The SCALETM approach is based on the premisethat once people createa plan together, they have a stake in itsimplementation.

2006

AED and the International Center for Research on Agroforesty(ICRAF), with funding from USAID, hosted a whole-system-in-the-room workshop attended by more than 120 stakeholdersto improve productivity and livelihoods of small Kenyan dairyfarmers through enriched feeds. Stakeholders committed tointroduce fodder shrubs to 100,000 smallholder farmers, anagroforestry technology that is estimated to generate $100 inincreased revenues per cow.

Creating a Common Vision for the Maya Biosphere ReserveIn Guatemala, collaboration was the cornerstone of a GreenCOM communi-cation strategy. Opinion leaders from the public, private, civil society, andnongovernmental sectors were trained to be Maya Biosphere Ambassadorsor volunteers, who would form and strengthen coalitions and partnershipsfor the sustainable management of the Maya Biosphere Reserve among theorganizations they represented.

The Ambassadors received a three-day training in presentation skills,including how to use an educational video, PowerPoint, and overhead mate-rials, negotiate with others, and how to be interviewed by the mass media.For many of these opinion leaders, the training sessions were the first timethey had sat around a table with people from other sectors and discussedthe potential for a common future. At the end of the training, eachAmbassador developed a work plan and made a written commitment toachieve specific goals. For example, representatives from the campesino(farmer) movement committed to share information about different areas ofthe Biosphere with their organizations, and to encourage them to negotiatefor lands within the buffer zone rather than the reserve itself. The represen-tative from a leading regional tour agency committed to promote toursoutside of Tikal, thereby extending the amount of time and money touristswould spend in the region.

This bottom-up networking strategy was complemented by a masscommunication campaign that used posters, billboards, an informationkiosk at the airport, mass media, and journalist training.

certification and encourage greatercollaboration towards improving theMAP value chain. In another case,project mediation ended a privatesector boycott of investment in wildcollection in Morocco’s northwest.This resulted in companies’ activeparticipation in the forestry conces-sion process and the return of thou-sands of wild crafters to work, aftertwo years of unemployment.

Application of SCALE™ has alsoled to the creation of a national feder-ation of MAP stakeholders whosepurpose is to promote a nationalsector policy. The federation wascreated by enthusiastic researcherswho agreed to include representativesof all MAP stakeholder groups—SOMAPAM (Moroccan Society forMedicinal and Aromatic Plants)—a task that many claim has been a

desire of everyone working in the MAP sector for the past twenty years.

Through GreenCOM’s encourage-ment of collaboration, targeted train-ings in distillation methods, distillerconstruction, and sustainable wildcrafting, numerous individuals fromseveral stakeholder groups have benefitted economically. Projectefforts attracted the interest of the International Union for theConservation of Nature (IUCN) increating international standards forwild crafting MAPs in the forests ofnorthwest Morocco. Project staffrepresented women’s argan oil cooper-atives in the sale of their product tointernational buyers and manyMoroccan farmers have been linkedwith external markets through projectinitiatives.

KENYA. In early 2006, GreenCOMlaunched a second SCALE™ activity inKenya’s Central Highlands. Projectstaff provided technical assistance tothe International Center for Researchin Agroforestry (ICRAF) to improvefeeding systems for small-holder dairyfarmers. A focus of the team’s work withICRAF was strengthening communica-tion and collaboration among stake-holder groups. In March 2006, a WSRparticipatory planning workshopbrought together 120 farmers,trainers, policymakers, NGOs,Government of Kenya extensionagents, processors, distributors, feedcompanies, researchers, microfinanceinstitutions, media, and donors.

Through a facilitated process, theworkshop helped stakeholders to elab-orate their ideas about how to bestenrich feeding systems for small scale


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Although the SCALETM approach accepts the inherent complexityof social systems, it may be captured in a simple equation:

Large Number(s) of Diverse Players

RespondingSimultaneously

to a Specific Problem

IncreasedCommunication

and Collaboration Among Those

Players

Increased Impacton the Economy,the Environment,and People’s Lives+ =

As AED seeks to refine the SCALETM approach through new and varied programs, the original premise ofGreenCOM remains relevant: improved livelihoods and environmental conservation can occur simultaneously.

dairy farmers. Using a series of self-managed exercises, stakeholdersdeveloped action plans for collabora-tive action that set forth short andlong-term objectives. These plansspecified goals for items such as creditaccessibility, information dissemina-tion, marketing, research and exten-sion services, and scaled-up use offodder shrubs, among other items.

Within one month of the WSRworkshop, multiple stakeholdergroups were making good on theirvoluntary commitments. For example,ICRAF promoted fodder shrubs at theApril Farmer Prize Giving DayCelebration organized and hosted byAfrica Harvest, and the RockefellerFoundation; and FAULU Kenya (amicrofinance institution), held theirfirst meeting with dairy farmers toreceive farmer opinions and input asthey developed a dairy farmer-friendly credit product. In addition,ICRAF developed a list of more than20 fodder shrub seed dealers locatedin central Kenya and disseminated itto all workshop participants andpotential extension partners.

As of August 2006, the Kenyademonstration activity has assistedmultiple stakeholder groups intraining 9,248 farmers on foddershrubs and distributed 2,000 newslet-ters and 1,000 fodder shrub flyers.The project also coordinated the gath-ering and distribution of fodder shrubseeds (Calliandra, Sesbania, Tricandraand Tree Lucerne) and fodder shrub

seedlings (Calliandra and Tricandra).Also, the project facilitated thecreation of the Kenya Association ofTree Seeds and Nursery Operators(KATRESNO).

SCALETM Fosters Collaborative ActionTaking the SCALETM approach meansthat once people create a plantogether, they have a stake in itsimplementation. It also gives them anopportunity to help the plan succeedby allowing them to voluntarilycommit to take action in their specificsphere of influence. A teacher, forinstance, may agree to spearhead thedevelopment of a new curriculum. Aranger may agree to teach dive boatoperators how to protect the reefs onwhich their lives depend. Collaborativeaction doesn’t mean that people areworking on the same task. It meansthat they are attacking the sameproblem and working towards thesame strategic goal.

Project staff act as coaches,mentors, facilitators, and trainers tosupport stakeholders’ collaborativeactions through social changemethodologies applied simultane-ously. These include: civil societyparticipation and mobilization, advo-cacy, social marketing, organizationaldevelopment, mass communication,education, and conflict resolution. In most programs, one methodologyis not sufficient to create change by itself.


FROM THE FIELD

“The success of the SCALETM

methodology to propel the uptakeof fodder trees by smallholder dairyfarmers has already been highlypromising. We hadn't imagined thatit was possible to aspire to reachingan additonal 100,000 farmers in justone year — but this has nowbecome possible by applyingSCALETM’s strategic communicationsmethodologies in an integrated,cross-sectoral way.

We also realize that SCALETM

could be an effective and innovativecomponent of other efforts togenerate impact. We see opportuni-ties in applying SCALETM to anumber of other important agro-forestry innovations and develop-ment efforts through regional andcountry-specific programs.Promising possibilities may exist inup-scaling fertilizer trees for soilfertility enhancement and foodsecurity, landcare approaches forbetter natural resource manage-ment in Eastern Africa, amongothers. We are currently looking atways to incorporate the SCALETM

strategic processes to help usimprove livelihoods on a larger scale- and connect with some of ourother global efforts.”

–Dennis GarrityDirector General

World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)Nairobi, Kenya

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Distilling the essence of the GreenCOMexperience into a few sentences fromthe many environmental, NRM, or agri-cultural issues, situations, and contextsit addressed, as well as the hundreds oflocales in which it operated over theyears, is a daunting task. Yet what hasbecome evident is that through thetransformational powers of strategiccommunication, individuals, communi-ties, and entire societies can be engagedto find practical and sustainable solutions to a host of development challenges.

Over time, SCALE™ has become theembodiment of the GreenCOM mission.While originally focusing on altering ormodifying discreet behaviors and practices of select populations throughmulti-channeled communication,

GreenCOM’s various methodologiesevolved into a singular, integrated, andholistic approach that combines the bestbehavior change communication toolswith systems-based, participatory, and strategic planning tools. Broughttogether, they offer great promise asglobal threats and challenges to environ-mental quality and natural resourcestewardship mount.

In adopting a systematic and comprehensive approach like SCALE™,individuals, communities, and societiescan more readily move beyond simply being aware of the environment andcircumstances that surround them, to becoming active agents of change for environmentally sustainable development, both locally and globally.

LEARNING FROM THE PAST,BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE

43S U S T A I N A B L E S O L U T I O N S F O R A B E T T E R E N V I R O N M E N TA Salvadoran girl carries a container of clean drinking water to her rural home

Select GreenCOM products and publications

The AED Center for Environmental Strategies(CES) is the operational unit that implementedGreenCOM. Established in 2001 as part of theAED Social Change Group, CES is committed tofinding sustainable solutions to environmentalprotection, natural resource management, agricultural and energy problems throughsystemwide behavior change, communication,education, advocacy and social mobilization strategies. Such efforts are driven by a strongcommitment to improve or maintain environ-mental quality as well as the quality of life fordiverse communities and groups. CES providesoverall program management, expert guidance,and implementation support for a range of development initiatives in the United States and worldwide.

For more information, please contact:

Richard P. BossiVice President and DirectorAED Center for Environmental Strategies 1825 Connecticut Ave., NWWashington, DC 20009Telephone: (202) 884-8000Fax: (202) 884-8997E-mail: [email protected]


1825 Connecticut Ave., NWWashington, DC 20009

Tel (202) 884-8000Fax (202) 884-8400

www.aed.org

Founded in 1961, the Academy for Educational Development is anindependent, nonprofit organization committed to solving critical

social problems and building the capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to become more self-sufficient.

AED works in all the major areas of human development, with a focus on improving education, health, and economic

opportunities for the least advantaged in the United States anddeveloping countries throughout the world.

www.greencom.org

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Sustainable Solutions for a Better Environment · SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT 9 People must participate fully in the planning process for new environmental initiatives