Description

Thanks to the records of the past, kept and maintained in places like natural history museums, we are able to identify the changes that biodiversity is facing all around the world today. Research is only one step of the process. In order to make real change, we need both knowledge and action. Conservation is a merge of arts and science disciplines and requires close, interdisciplinary collaboration to be successful. Conservation calls on biologists, chemists, climatologists, computer programmers, engineers, geologists, meteorologists, meteorologists, physicists, animators, and illustrators. And these interactions foster new ideas and new perspectives for inquiries.

Change happens when we take knowledge and turn it into action. Youth are vital in this process, and youth are powerful. Many public reports quote what the state of the world will look like in 2050, but our future does not stop there. Those who will be most affected by the consequences of biodiversity threats are not yet old enough to vote. That does not mean that their voices are not heard.

As we have discussed, ecosystem biodiversity is vital for the survival of the environment and for human culture, economy, and resources. Nature is interwoven in a tightly knit web, and unraveling or damaging the threads risk irreversible damage. When we are environmentally conscious in our actions, when we work collaborative and make the environment a priority, Change is possible.

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Task

Want to take your learning a step further?

Youth have the power and the ability to shape the world that they will be living in for the years to come. With effective communication, your voice has a major impact on the current decision-makers and helps to propel you to be change-makers yourselves. 

In order to make the change you wish to see,  you need to have a plan for how this can be accomplished. A campaign is a planned promotion of a specific message intended to achieve a goal with a clear beginning and end date. Campaigns are creative and don’t all have to include the same elements.

For the purpose of this activity, we are looking for a theoretical outline. If you would like to dive deeper into your campaign, however, read the Creating a Campaign blog for more information. 

Chose one of the conservation topics and create an action campaign plan to enact change. You may work in small groups or as one large class. Once the proposals are complete, take turns pitching your ideas to the larger group. Collectively select one proposal to present at the Virtual Town Hall.

Preliminary Information

• What biodiversity near me (or related to me) needs protecting? 
• Which threat is most important to me?
• Which efforts are already in place to protect this biodiversity
• Who might be my allies and my opposition in my effort to protect the biodiversity? What arguments might they use and how could I argue against them?

Building the Campaign. Plan out the following

1. Choose a strategy: targeting behaviour, business, or policy
2. My campaign statement (what I am going to achieve)
3. I will measure my success by:
4. I can reasonably accomplish this goal by (timeframe)
5. What resources do I have available to me?
6. What credible sources am I citing to support my argument?

Building Your Pitch.  Fill in the following information.

• I am… (name & affiliation)
• What I am passionate about AND/OR what problem I am trying to solve (1-2 sentences)
• Why it matter and why you should care (1 sentence)
• What I am proposing to do about it (1-2 sentences)
• What I am asking them to do (depending on who you are targeting in your strategy) (1-2 sentences)
• The expected impact of this action (1 sentence)

This outline was created by the Captain Planet Foundation for the Ocean Heroes Bootcamp

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