Some of our Environmental Work

Country roads, City Traffic

Client: City of Casey, Victoria

The Country Roads, City Traffic campaign was designed to persuade the residents in the city of Casey, who were angry at the poor road conditions, to become allies of the local council and help rally State Government for urgent and necessary funding.

The campaign was a success. It raised awareness of the issues and gained the support of residents who helped the council in its bid for urgent funding through community meetings, petitions and submissions.

What to do with ‘green waste’?

Client: City of Casey, Victoria

It’s not always easy to know what to do with leaves and grass clippings or ‘green waste’. So the City of Casey asked Social Change Media to find out what services the residents needed.

We developed comprehensive survey strategy to dig deep and get the information the council needed to make an informed decision. The results helped the local council to get the right solution first time.

Green Superannuation

Client: HESTA (Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia)

In February 2000 HESTA super fund introduced the first environmental investment option to be offered in Australia – HESTA Eco Pool. Social Change Media provided the full range of communication and media services to encourage high member take-up of the new investment portfolio.

A model stormwater education campaign

Client: Drummoyne Council

In a collaborative project with GEMS and OzGreen, we have developed a model Stormwater Education program for Drummoyne Council.

The project will compare the outcomes in two Iron Cove catchments. Both have litter detention devices, but only one will have an education program. Which will produce in the best water quality? (We'll let you know).

One of our first decisions was to empower the community as much as possible. So a community meeting helped design the campaign, and school students have been involved in delivering materials and messages to the community.

Here is the 'collectors' item' tea-towel (the idea came from the community meeting), and one of the cartoons we developed for the project.

Need to develop an effective social marketing strategy? Check out -

A 7-step social marketing methodology

It's an easy-to-understand and easy-to-use approach to developing an effective social change strategy.

It's specifically developed for waste education programs, but the principles apply to any kind of 'behaviour change' project.
 

New recycling symbols for NSW

Client: The Southern Sydney Waste Board

SCM developed a comprehensive series of fresh new recycling symbols for NSW - with over 60 graphic symbols in all. The project, for the Southern Sydney Waste Board, involved extensive public testing.

• Free Recycling Signs

Streamwatch manual and website

SCM completed two major jobs for Streamwatch - the popular school and community water monitoring and activism program:

1. The new user manual for the testing kits; PLUS
2. The Streamwatch website.

There are about 450 groups in the NSW Streamwatch program, and the internet site will become the the main method of communication and support between groups, coordinators, and managers - as a result it is highly interactive and easy to maintain. 

Other recent work includes

• A state-of-the-art internet site for Wollongong City Council Over 140 Australian councils have internet sites, but most are token affairs. We've created a professional, high-content, interactive site for Australia's 9th largest city.
• The Georges River Crisis Seminar

With 1.2 million residents, the Georges River, in Sydney's south, is Australia's most populous catchment, and one of it's most polluted. The seminar audience, addressed by Ian Kiernan, Bob Wilson and Bernie Clark, unanimously endorsed the RIVERKEEPER CONCEPT (which we've developed for Georges River councils over the past year).The councils have since advertised the position of business manager for the Riverkeepers Network!

• A series of informative booklets on the health effects of lead (the metal, not the dog-restraint) for the NSW Lead Reference Centre. These publications will be the information base for an extensive lead education program.

An environmentally active community

Working with Councils and communities, SCM has helped win historic campaigns against proposed 'megatips' at Londonderry (1990-91) and Lucas Heights (1992-93), and against the Waterloo Incinerator (1995-97).

These wins created the political impetus for the revolutionary waste management policies of the current New South Wales government.

We have continued this strategic work by -

• organising the Finding the 60% Solution conference (1996)
• assisting the development of OPTIONS for a SUSTAINABLE WASTE STRATEGY for the Southern Sydney Region (Feb 1997). This is a vital technical and strategic resource document for the new Regional Waste Boards.

An environmentally literate community

SCM has been engaged in lots of environmental education projects, including -

• Newcastle City Council's recycling promotion campaign.
• A consultancy to develop a River Keepers program on the Georges River.
• The Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Trust's monthly newsletter.
• A direct-mail community activism brochure for the CRASH group of councils opposing the Holsworthy airport

Contact Les Robinson, our environment and local government campaign manager or check out Les' own site

Our environmental work ranges from simple brochures to national industry strategies such as the National Ecotourism Education Strategy.

Always, our work has a strategic approach informed by the needs of the client, strategic goals, and an understanding of the needs and perceptions of the audience. 

What One of our Clients Say...

'When the shire was targeted for a mega-tip to take virtually the whole of Sydney's garbage, we approached Social Change Media to develop a community campaign to stop the proposal.

'Social Change Media skilfully managed the long and hard-fought campaign. We achieved a great victory and changed the direction of the State Government's waste policy.'

- Genevieve Rankin, Councillor, Sutherland Shire Council.

© 2004 Social Change Media ACN 104 663 498
Last Modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 19:27:45 EST