Work Order 10 - Draft - GCCA€¦ · Web viewWebsite and Capacity Development for Implementation of National Climate Change Learning Strategy in Ghana. ... through to oil/gas,

Technical Assistance to the GCCA Climate Support Facilityunder the 10th EDF Intra-ACP Financial Framework

Work Order #56 (16-56-01-12IEB016)

Website and Capacity Development for Implementation of National Climate Change Learning Strategy in Ghana

Mission Report for ACP Secretariat and European Commission

Field Mission Communications Expert: Ms Natalia Reiter 4-12 MayWeb Developer: Ms Gisella Gallenca 27th-13th May

Quality control: Manuel Harchies

Consortium SAFEGE-Prospect-ADETEF-Eco – Gulledelle 92, 1200 Brussels, BELGIUM

Climate Support Facility – WO #56– Mission Report

Mission data

Country Ghana

Period 4-12 May (Communications Expert, Natalia Reiter) 27April-13th May (Webmaster Gisella Gallenca)

Local coordinator

Dr Emmanuel Tachie-Obeng, National Focal Point for Climate Change Education and Public Awareness

Acronyms

EPA – European Environmental Agency, UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, MESTI – Ministry for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, UN – United Nations

Objectives

Objectives for this mission were specified in the mission Terms of Reference

- General objective: To support the government of Ghana with its UNFCCC commitment to promote and work towards climate change education, training and public awareness

- Specific objective: To help Ghana’s national focal point for climate change education, training and public awareness with the development of a website to support implementation of the climate change learning strategy in Ghana

Activities

EVALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) WEBSITE

The Webmaster and Communications Expert carried out a full analysis and review of the existing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, identifying strengths and

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Task 1: Study the current www.epa.gov.gh website and other relevant climate change platforms and websites, particularly in Ghana as well as climate change

activities, projects and programmes implemented in Ghana

http://www.epa.gov.gh/


weaknesses then making appropriate recommendations. The analysis included review of the current site’s main functionalities as well as a thorough review of its content.

HOW DO OTHERS DO IT?

This review was done to give climate change a more prominent presence on the website, which covers a broad range of environmental issues. The review was a first stage in the design of a new website, enabling the EPA to communicate around climate change and other issues in a more effective, modern and internationally visible way.

The experts presented examples of other websites, which successfully communicate on issues similar to those covered by the EPA.

During the process of research, EPA staff mentioned they would like the new website not only to improve their external visibility but also to help smooth internal processes. With that in mind, the experts sought case studies that might offer ideas for improving the flows of information within the EPA on issues ranging from climate change through to oil/gas, pollution, and noise reduction.

HOW TO BECOME A SOURCE OF CLIMATE INFORMATION IN GHANA AND BEYOND?

The communications expert and webmaster based their solutions on international websites which have successfully served as platforms for their agencies, achieving becoming “go to” websites for climate change issues both in their countries and internationally.

The experts focused on key elements which might help the EPA website to become the go-to place for Ghanaians to access information on climate change, but also to become the go-to place for those outside of Ghana, in Africa and beyond.

The experts studied the websites of similar agencies around the world, presenting these websites to EPA staff as examples. In this way, the experts enabled counterparts in Ghana to make the best choice for themselves.

STUDY OF NATIONAL AND OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES’ CLIMATE WEBSITES TO SOURCE CONTENT

The experts studied other Ghanaian websites including the Climate Hub, MESTI, Website of the government of Ghana, Website of the Petroleum Commission of Ghana as well as the Ghana news websites. This was done to identify the level of communications on climate change within Ghana and to avoid duplication with other government agencies.

The consultants also researched the climate change activities done by development agencies, including mainly United Nations programmes and NGOs.

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This analysis and research enabled the experts to produce a first mock-up of a new website. This early step also allowed the identification and publication of relevant content for the new EPA website, which did not yet have any of its own. In the absence of its own content on climate change, the EPA draws much of its content from other government and news sources.

Examples of content from other sources used on the current website:

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/media/news/mofa-scaling-climate-change-policies-benefit-farmers

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/media/news/ghana-170-countries-sign-paris-agreement-climate-change

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/media/news/ghana’s-biogas-powers-ahead

A

detailed workplan (attached) was agreed between the two experts, the consortium and the National Coordinator.

Following the research phase the communications expert and webmaster held extensive consultations with the EPA team to:

1. Agree and assess the requirements of the new EPA website 2. Confirm and adjust the workplan that had been presented by the consortium

Coordination Calls (described in detail below) involving the whole MWH team took place prior to the missions as well as several one-on- one conversations between the Communications Expert and the Local Coordinator.

The Communications Expert and Webmaster planned their activities closely together in order to maximise the efficiency of the limited time spent on mission in Ghana..

Prior to the mission, it was agreed that the work would be divided into two phases

1. Pre-mission 2. Mission

A full research, three mockups, and a needs assessment (attached) has been produced and presented to the EPA along with a plan for the mission.

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Task 2: Prepare a mission plan in consultation with the National Coordinator and discuss and agree on the needs and requirements for the website as described in

tasks 2-8

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/media/news/ghana's-biogas-powers-ahead






The coordination calls during which the plan and the needs assessment were agreed were attended by members of the IT, climate change, internal communications and support staff on the EPA side and by the Communications Expert and Webmaster.

The task was carried out successfully without any problems encountered.

The Communications Expert and Webmaster held discussions prior to the mission to agree on all needs and requirements of a new website.

1st COORDINATION CALL 21st March 2016 (minutes and follow-up attached)

The first coordination call held in March was attended by the local coordinator, representatives of the Information Technology Unit, Internal Communications staff and the two experts.

The following questions were discussed:

1. Are we redesigning the whole website or just adding a climate section?2. Who are the audiences of the website?3. Why are we making climate change central to the EPA?4. What is the background behind that decision?5. Who are the key contacts and how can we work together?6. What were the problems encountered in the past and how were they resolved ?

Main conclusions from the meeting

1. There is a need to redesign the whole EPA website to make it more efficient, dynamic, and visually attractive.

2. The redesign will not change the fact that the EPA website covers a variety of topics and issues, but it will aim to give climate change a more prominent and more visible place on the website.

3. The aim of the new website is to show what Ghana’s government is achieving, and has achieved, in the area of climate change.

4. The climate change area needs to be more easily accessible from the homepage.5. The audience of the website is and will remain very wide – ranging from farmers

through to academia, media and the scientific community.

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Task 3: Under the guidance and in close collaboration with the National Coordinator and consultation with relevant stakeholders which will be provided by the National coordinator, prepare a needs assessment, agree on form, structure, layout and content of the website


6. The EPA wants the website to be the go to website on environment and climate change and it hopes to attract a national and international audience.

Following the call the experts shared the outcome and minutes of the call and presented EPA staff with a set of options, questions, and action points including:

- Decision on the source platform,- Decision about providers (ie Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress and others) - Choice of a mockup (Experts provided a choice of two)

The experts have made their recommendations and explained the available options to the team.

Following the calls the experts put together a needs assessment which was confirmed and approved by the EPA.

2nd COORDINATION CALL 29th March 2016 (minutes and follow-up attached)

Following actions and a set of decisions taken by the EPA team together with the experts another call was organised to confirm the way forward. The call was attended by EPA focal points and experts. The EPA team was the same as for the previous call with the addition of Mr Kyekyeku Oppong-Boadi from the Climate Change Unit.

FOLLOWING DECISIONS AND ACTIONS HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED

- Keep open source platform - Use the Drupal system - Mockup approval with small adjustments- Access for migration resolved- Agreement that all existing subdomains would be kept- Training: It has been agreed that the communications team of the EPA should

participate in the training - It was agreed that the Communications Expert would deliver an article to be signed

by the Executive Director of the EPA and posted on the homepage after its launch

Content migration from the old website

Because of the large size of files, the backup was done on the first day of the Web Developer’s mission. At the same time, the migration was done so that most content was available in the new platform. Each page of imported content needed a one-by-one review

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Task 4: Collect and prepare material for the content of the website


and adjustment. That has been done on an ad hoc basis during the whole development period.

Review of old content

The experts reviewed old content and selected relevant materials which could be highlighted and posted on the homepage in the media and climate section.

The Communications Expert also worked in close collaboration with the Head of Corporate Communications Ms. Angelina Mensah, the Publication Unit, and the Internal Communications Unit to find existing articles, visuals and graphics which could be used for the new website.

New content for the Climate Change section

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/projects/climate-change

The Web Developer entered new content into the Climate Change section under the direction of the Communications Expert.

Media Center

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/media

A new feature was added to the website, allowing for the better organisation of content. The media center is the section where all articles, news, publications, blogs and press releases can be stored. The content management system allows for a selection of content then posting on the homepage. Some of this content would also go into the relevant sections such as the section on climate change.

The Media Center gives contact details for a press and communications person in charge.

The articles and news pages can now store and show video and photo galleries.

An example of an existing story written by EPA staff which was never published on the EPA website but has now been featured with a photo gallery can be found here:

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/media/news/drylands-have-womans-face

An Internal Communications tool

During various discussions and from observations made by the experts during the mission, it became clear that one of the main obstacles and challenge for EPA’s visibility and communications is an overly complex, inconsistent and unstructured process of workflow and transfer of information.

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http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/media/news/drylands-have-womans-face

http://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/projects/climate-change


An internal communications tool was designed for the agency which allowed all departments to submit their information for internal approval, review and quality control before being posted on the public facing sections of the website.

NOTE: This task was carried out successfully but the two experts have pointed to a few challenges

- Lack of high quality visuals. The Experts researched partner websites extensively, looking at other government institutions, development organisations and news sources to replace the existing materials, some of which were of very poor quality, even for website use.

- While the experts believe the internal communications tool might initially ease the communications process within the agency, it will only work if there is a clear assignment of tasks and commitment to sharing content and information between the various departments.

- The Head of Corporate Communications or another person assigned should be put in charge to regularly gather content from within the institution and elsewhere.

New platform introduction meeting (May 4th)

An introductory meeting with EPA staff from several departments and the web developer was held on May 4th.

The overall graphic and general structure had a first approval. EPA staff also made proposals including – to add a career section; to add blogs; to add a children’s section; to improve documents section; to find a technical way to facilitate the collection and selection of new content. Some EPA members noticed mistakes in content imported from the old website, and they’ve been asked to check the materials and eventually provide a list of amendments. In case they identify errors after handover by the Web Developer, the EPA’s IT personnel will always be able to edit and correct any other content.

9th May Meeting with EPA staff to present up-to-date status and gather comments

A meeting of some 20 EPA staff was called to present the progress made to date and gather comments and approval from within the agency.

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Task 5: Present and updated national climate change website to National Coordinator, EPA/National Media staff and identified stakeholders for comments


EPA staff members present during the meeting, which was facilitated by the Local Coordinator, approved the general direction of work and made various comments and requests for changes. The Experts were pleased to implement these comments and changes.

12th May Final presentation and handover of website to EPA

A final meeting to which all EPA staff were invited was held to present the final outcome of the website. It was agreed the website would be launched on Wednesday, 18th May.

During the course of several meetings, EPA staff highlighted the requirements and limitations of placing partner logos, including the ACP GCCA logos. It has been agreed to limit the visibility of ACP GCCA to the Climate Change section and the Partners page. A preview has been sent to a project manager in Brussels in order to check compliance with the TORs.

During the mission, three separate briefings and trainings were delivered by the webmaster and communications expert.

1. Training was provided to two members of the IT team focusing on technical aspects of the website and providing them with simple tools to create new elements and modalities of the site. The training has been divided into two stages. During the first stage, the main functions and settings of Drupal platform were explained in detail, with a specific reference to the way in which it has been set-up in the new EPA website. In the second stage, an IT staff member operated the system to accomplish a given task.

2. A separate training session was provided to some 20 members of the EPA, including the Head of Communications and Information Officers from various departments as well as the IT team. The communications expert and webmaster were shown the tools and mechanisms for content management under Drupal. While the webmaster focused on explaining the technical process of the content management, the

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Task 6: Ensure proper integration of visibility guidelines of Intra-ACP GCCA Programme (logos, captions etc) on the website

Task 7: Provide on the job training to two persons (one content manager and one website manager) from EIDM of EPA staff, to be provided by the National Coordinator


Communications Expert emphasised the type of content the new website should be hosting as well. It was noted that internal process within the EPA would have to be structured accordingly so as to allow a smooth exchange of information between the departments, especially with the communications department.

3. A final and short session was delivered to the National Climate Change Coordinator Dr Tachie Obeng. The aim was to familiarise him with the new climate change section and to stress the importance of keeping the section, as well as the whole website, alive with up to date content. The one-on-one session with the communications expert also explained how to use basic content management tools for the climate section and homepage, how to post videos, pictures, articles and blogs.

The task has been completed successfully and without any problems encountered.

The new website’s homepage links to the MESTI website.

www.epa.gov.gh

Workplan

Date Amount of working dayDescription of the task and

indication of experts involved

Preparation Phase (12 Working days)

17th March 2016 - 20th April 2016

8 working days / Team Leader, Communications expert, Natalia Reiter

4 working days for Webmaster

1. Review of current website, of all relevant documents, links and materials suggested by beneficiary

2. Production of mockups3. Coordination calls4. Prepare plan for the

mission and preparation5. Writing of Articles and

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Task 8: Finalise the national climate change website with MESTI


sourcing of other content6. Coordination calls and

planning with EPA staff and Local coordinator

7. Seeking approval for concept and design

8. Seeking instructions for technical specifications, backup and transfer

Travel phase (4 working days)

From home to mission in Ghana (2 days – 1 day WM, 1 day CE) From Ghana mission back home (2 days – 1 day WM, 1 day CE)

Webmaster: 27th April and 14th May

Communications Expert4th and 13th May

4 Working days 2 webmaster 2 comms expert

International Travel

WEBMASTER – Torino-Accra-Torino

COMMUNICATIONS EXPERTGeneva-Accra-Geneva

Field Phase (20 Working days)

27th April to 13th May, 2016

20 working days 12 days – Webmaster 8 days -

Communications Expert

1. Introductory meetings with EU, EPA

2. Setting up new platform3. Content migration4. Development of profiles5. Development of internal

communications tool6. Sourcing of photo, video,

and text stories7. Training for

communication staff8. Training for climate

change unit / local coordinator

9. Progress updates10. Collection of logos, links11. Creation of media centre12. Technical workshop

Reporting phase (3 Working days)

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Date first working day of this phase 17th- 20th May

Webmaster – 1 dayCommunications expert -2 days

Preparation of draft final report and accompanying documents

Outputs

As specified in the ToR:

National Website on Climate Change

a) A needs assessment report for the national climate change website

A needs assessment was produced following coordination calls prior to the mission. Additional needs and requests were expressed during the mission. This did not pose any major problems but added significantly to an already extensive assignment.

b) Re-designed and updated the national website www.epa.gov.gh

Consultants finished this phase on the last day of the mission. The new website went live on 18th May 2016

c) Training, guidelines, manuals for the website and content managers

Consultants conducted three trainings, as explained in the sections above

- Technical training for the Information Department staff/ Delivered by the webmaster- Content management training for communications staff and Information officers of

all EPA departments/ Delivered by webmaster and communications expert- Basic content management training /Delivered by communications expert

Problems encountered

The web developer and communications experts encountered no major problems that might have blocked the development of the website.

Some small remarks below:

EPA staff requested the construction of a back-end function to facilitate and partially automate the collection, review and approval of new content and news from different departments. This would help to make such content compliant with guidelines outlined during several review meetings.

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http://www.epa.gov.gh/


Due to the high level of customization, this type of task usually requires at least a couple of working days to be finalized in an optimal way. Because the request was made late, the risk of not meeting the requirement was high. In order to meet the request as much as possible, the web developer implemented the component in a basic way, according to the time actually remaining between the various training sessions.

Such a tool does not, in the view, of both experts, resolve the problems with internal processes linked to the exchange of information between the EPA departments, especially with the communications department.

It is recommended that proper process is established. A technical tool cannot replace this process.

Follow-up requiredThe point of the mission is to give the EPA the right tools to start communicating about its activities internationally and on a national level.

In the course of various conversations, the EPA expressed a desire to define its audience very widely. It wants the website to appeal to governments, the international community, the general public, and the scientific community too. This will require more than a single website.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The website will provide a tool for these commitments but it is recommended that the EPA

- produces a communications strategy outlining its priorities, audiences and tools and mechanisms to reach them

- establishes a clear and understandable process in which each department understands exactly how its content can be produced, publicised and communicated either on the website or through other channels

- Empowers and tasks assigned individuals to regularly produce relevant content- Establishes a database where all previous pictures, videos and text can be safely

stored. All new content will be archived on the website but the agency currently has a large number of files scattered around multiple desks and departments. These files should be collected and stored.

FURTHER STEPS

The Local Coordinator is now fully equipped to keep climate change content, documents and news up to date, engaging and alive but at the time of departure it was unclear if the agency will have the capacity to continue that process indefinitely. It is highly recommended that the communications team regularly contacts various departments to produce engaging and relevant content.

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FURTHER TRAINING RECOMMENDED

IT Team – the IT Team would benefit from additional training on content management and basic development within the Drupal system

Communications and Information Officers – A tailored communications, basic news and feature and blog writing course would allow a selected group of people to take care of further content production in the future.

List of people consulted

Name Institution Email Tel.Dr Emmanuel Tachie-Obeng

Local coordinator, EPA [email protected] +233 208196879

Mr Oppong Boadi

Climate Change Unit Member [email protected] +233 501301417

Mr Edmund Mc-Addy

ICT Focal Person, EPA [email protected] +233 501301460

Mrs Helen Asiamah

Content Manager, EPA [email protected] +233 501301383

Mavis Ablordeppey

Assistant Content Manager, EPA [email protected] +233 501301572

Samson Botchway

Content Management Officer, IT Unit

[email protected]

Angelina Mensah

Head of Communications

[email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]





Documents

Work Order 10 - Draft - GCCA€¦ · Web viewWebsite and Capacity Development for Implementation of National Climate Change Learning Strategy in Ghana. ... through to oil/gas,