Planning projects

Conservation projects inevitably require people to undertake some sort of social or behaviour change to be successful. Coles Bay in Tasmania is a good example: a project there managed to get people to do without plastic bags, resulting in a great win for the environment.

In the case of shorebird projects, this behaviour change usually means getting people to keep their dogs on leads or refraining from driving their 4WD’s over sensitive habitat.

Successful conservation projects are carefully thought-out and planned. The following 12-step process provides a technique to effectively plan projects with behaviour change goals.

1. Define the behaviour change

Analyse the problem, its causes and likely solutions. Identify exactly who needs to make what behaviour change to make an impact on your problem.

Tips

  • Consider the people who will make the biggest difference to your project
  • Select a behaviour change that is specific, measurable, common sense and achievable

2. Identify a common vision

Locate a common vision shared between your goals and your audience’s values, aspirations and norms. This vision then becomes the basis of the pitch to your target audience.

Tips

  • Use focus groups to identify real audience frustrations that your program can reasonably be an answer to
  • Modify features of your program so it is actually an answer to these frustrations
  • Communicate the shared purpose using role models or aspirational images that your audience can identify with

3. Address audience barriers

Identify the issues that are currently preventing the target audience from making the required behaviour change. Try to find out what it would take for your target audience to make the required change.

Tips

  • Run a focus group of your target audience (for more info on this see Running Focus Groups)
  • Try to discover the perceived benefits in their current behaviour as well as the issues (eg lack of confidence or fears) preventing them from changing this behaviour

4. Select project actions

Select a mix of actions that will work best with your target audience and is within your budget. Complex behaviour change (act to save a threatened community) usually requires more intense face to face education programs. Where as simple behaviour change (e.g. don’t litter) can be effected by a good communication project.

Tips

  • Try to provide hands-on learning opportunities where target audience members can gain confidence in performing the new behaviour
  • Use trusted peers in the target audience to explain the benefits of action and invite participation
  • Provide products and services that make it easy for your target audience to change their behaviour
  • Make sure you provide immediate rewards and incentives: fun, food, and sociable, entertaining events

5. Check your capacity

Do you have the time, money, policy mandate and commitment to implement this project? If not, what do you need to do to either develop the capacity or change your plan?

Tips

  • Cost all your project actions and check with all your project partners that they are prepared to do what is required
  • Conduct a project team meeting to brainstorm these issues

6. Conduct reality testing

Check the assumptions underpinning your strategy with your target audience and with experts in this field. If your assumptions are incorrect then redesign your project based on the correct assumptions.

Tips

  • Focus group discussions are a good way to conduct this reality testing (for more info on this see Running Focus Groups)

7. Set your evaluation strategy

Decide on the criteria you will use to measure your desired behaviour change. Make sure you establish a baseline before you implement your project so that you can measure its impact following completion.

Tips

  • Make sure you are measuring the required behaviour change you identified in step 1.
  • Try using your project partners to collect survey data
  • Follow a ‘program logic’ approach (CoCreate manual, Robinson 2005)

8. Compose key messages

Compose key messages that address your target audience’s issues using credible voices in a language that the audience can identify with.

Tips

  • Couch your information in the values and interests of your target audience
  • Try to address the barriers, opportunities, benefits and competing messages
  • Make sure your sources of information are credible

9. Pre-test your materials

Conduct focus groups to pre-test your project materials.

Tips

  • Conduct two focus groups per target audience to ensure that findings are not exceptional (for more info on this see Running Focus Groups)
  • Recruit participants independently from project partners (otherwise your sample may be biased)
  • Rework your project materials based on findings from focus group tests

10. Document your project plan

Carefully write up your project strategy, documenting your research findings, assumptions and proposed project plan (actions, costs and timing).

Tips

  • Make sure the strategy is based on your assumptions and provides a rationale for your proposed actions
  • Get your project stakeholders to sign-off on your strategy

Keep updating your plan as circumstances change

11. Implement the project

Roll out your project as per your plan.

Tips

  • Be flexible within your project plan. Resist the temptation to add ‘good ideas’ willy nilly unless they directly serve the purpose and assumptions of the project
  • Take advantage of all opportunities to collect data during the project for evaluation as you go

12. Evaluate and redesign

Evaluate the impact of your project by either collating data collected during the project or by conducting a post-project survey of the target audience. Identify what worked and what did’nt work and redesign the next stage of your project based on these findings

Tips

  • Use exactly the same criteria for measuring project impact as you did for the baseline survey
  • Conduct a project team brainstorm to asses evaluation findings and redesign the next stage

This process has been drawn from Les Robinson’s RAPID (Rigorous Audience-centred Process for Intervention Design) and 7 Doors models. For more information

Robinson, L. (2005) Cocreate Guide, self published.

McGrath, M. (2006) Planning conservation projects: 12 steps to achieving social change. Factsheet prepared for WWF-Australia by Social Change Media.

7 Doors Model

Diffusion of Innovations Theory