Planning best practice education and engagement projects AAEE … · 2019-10-26 · from 9 Regional...

www.aaeensw.org.au/resources/publications

Planning best practice education and

engagement projects

AAEE NSW

Sue Martin, Mel Sellen

and Jem Hansen

https://www.aaeensw.org.au/resources/publications


Principles and themes in the guide come from:

• Make the Change: A Framework for Educationand Engagement for Sustainability 2014- 2021

• NSW Environmental Trust

• Does Your Project Make a Difference?

The guide has been road tested by over 30 Sustainability educators from 9 Regional Sustainability Education Networks across NSW- from local and state government, community organisations and schools.

It was developed as part of a 2 year project we just finished running in NSW.

Right from the Start!

A guide to planning your best practice

Sustainability Education and Engagement

project



Best Practice

Guiding Principles

Best practice sustainability education and engagement projects:

1. Operate within and promote the values of sustainability - defined as ‘balancing the community’s economic and social needs within the planet’s ecological limits’;

2. Encourage the community to be active citizens in caring for our environment;

3. Respect and reflect local Aboriginal culture and heritage and include cultural and place-based learning;

4. Reflect and address the needs of target audience and engage these participants through critical thinking, problem solving and action;

5. Have reflection, monitoring and evaluation built into their design, to allow for continuous improvement;

6. Are achieved through the collaborative efforts of multiple partners from different organisations and sectors.

These are adapted from the guiding principles of Make the Change: A Framework for Education and Engagement for Sustainability 2014-2021 and are based on the principles of Education for Sustainability (EfS).



Put simply, best practice means….

• Good sustainability education projects educate our

community about sustainability and our environment;

• Best practice goes further by incorporating the six best

practice principles;

• Best practice projects extend education to include

engagement, so that people not only learn about the

environment, they do something, and in doing so

become active citizens caring for our environment;

• And with best practice, these actions can be measured

to provide evidence that this education and engagement

physically improved the environment.



Why make your next project

best practice?

• Get better organisational buy-in on your sustainability

education projects

• Data/numbers & evidence help validate sustainability

education to those who think it is just ‘soft and fluffy’ and

helps your managers meet their reporting targets!

• Increase your likelihood of getting funding

• Increase your success at winning awards- an insurance

policy against funding cuts and restructures!

• Lift the profile of sustainability education and

engagement in your organisation and region



Meeting the needs of your

target audience

• For your education & engagement activity to be a success, it

has to meet the needs of your target audience.

• This means that your activity is designed to suit their typical

behaviours and characteristics.

• If your project’s activities meet the needs of your target

audience, it follows that at the end of your project both your

environment and your community will have benefited.

• Articulating and marketing these personal benefits i.e. “What’s

in it for me?”, is critical to:

– Ensure your target audience attend your activities

– Make your project appealing to a broad audience



What’s in it for me?

• Question: What is a personal benefit that someone might gain from attending a waste education activity?

• Answers– saving money;

– learning a new skill;

– feeling more connected to your community;

– getting exercise;

– getting outdoors or spending time in nature;

– spending time with family and friends;

– having fun;

– kids get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty;

– teachers get a break from teaching;

– eating delicious food;

– making new friends;

– meeting a potential new partner;

– feeling that your actions have made a positive difference to your environment.



Marketing personal benefits

• Look at the personal benefits

being marketed in this poster

• Notice that no where does the

poster say “learn how to help

our environment”

• The best communication

messages do not mention the

environment or sustainability

e.g. “Keep Australia Beautiful”



Collaboration

Best practice sustainability education projects are the result

of collaborating with the target audience, local Aboriginal

community and organisations from different sectors.

Collaborators provide you with valuable resources:

• Time

• Knowledge of your target audience

• Access to networks

• Skills and expertise in project design, community

engagement and evaluation

• Materials (use of cameras, vehicles, venues etc).



Collaboration

Remember:

• Not everyone has to be involved in the hard work of delivering the activities;– E.g. a collaborator can be the person who takes photos at your

activity or helps you do your evaluation framework or shares their media contact list with you…

• Involve your collaborators in the project design so that they take ownership of the project;

• The time required to ensure all collaborators understand and fulfil their roles will be outweighed by what they bring to a project;

• Collaboration helps to ensure that your project is “not re-inventing the wheel”.



Evaluating your project

• Establishing what you want your project to achieve and

how you will measure this is critical to your project’s

effectiveness/success.

• Your outcomes should be focussed on what you want to

achieve rather than what you have to do.

• An Outcomes Hierarchy Framework is the most

important part of planning and evaluating your project.

• It helps you to map out your ‘program logic’

• It shows how:

– Your project’s education & engagement activities are going to

physically help our environment and;

– How you are going to prove this.



Indicators of Success

• To effectively measure success it is best to establish a baseline to compare any changes that occur as a result of your project.

• This could be of knowledge, attitudes and current practice.E.g. When planning a litter education project you would measure the baseline of how much litter is in your target area, to be able to demonstrate a reduction in litter as a result of your project.

• Most projects should incorporate both quantitative(numerical – how much did we do?) and qualitativeindicators (descriptive – how well did we do it?).

• Indicators should always demonstrate a tangible environmental benefit.



An Outcomes Hierarchy Framework Example

Central Coast Green Canteens

Outcomes Hierarchy Evaluation questions Indicators of Success Data Sources

Ultimate Outcome

Reduced plastic waste to

landfill, and reduced plastic

litter polluting creeks and

ocean

- Is there a reduction in

plastic waste to landfill?

- Is this reduction in littered

plastic waste?

- # single use items avoided

- % reduction in plastic litter

- Canteen purchasing

records

- Follow-up litter audit

Intermediate Outcome

A decrease in single use

plastics in school canteens

Have school canteens

reduced single use plastics?

- # of schools participating

- # of alternatives to single-use

plastics utilised

- Participant survey

- Project Team

records

Immediate Outcome

Schools make commitment

to participate in the program

and reduce single use

plastics in canteen

Did schools sign up to the

Green Canteen program?

- # schools ‘signed up’ - Pledge form

Activities

Baseline data - school

survey and litter audit

- What are current pracs?

- What are litter levels?

- Number of survey responses

- Number of audits completed

- Survey data

- Audit data

Green Canteen school

video conference

Did schools learn about

Green Canteen solutions?

- Number of participants

- Increase in knowledge & interest

- Attendance records

- Participant survey



An Outcomes Hierarchy Framework Example

National Tree Day Planting activity at Happy School

Outcomes Hierarchy Evaluation questions Indicators of Success Data Sources

Ultimate Outcome

Increased biodiversity in school

grounds.

Are native plants providing

habitat for local biodiversity

(birds, mammals, reptiles and

insects)?

- % of plantings that were

alive after 5 years

- Increase in no. of species

recorded in annual

biodiversity surveys.

- Biodiversity surveys.

- Photos, records &

surveys of site.

Intermediate Outcome

Students, teachers, principal and

ground staff prepare the site and

plant native species with

guidance from horticultural

expert.

Were the species planted,

watered and mulched correctly?

- No. of tubestock planted

- No. of different species

- 75% of plants were alive

one month after planting.

- Planting records and

surveys of planting

site.

Immediate Outcome

Students work with biodiversity

expert and school grounds staff

to choose appropriate species

and planting location that will be

maintained for at least 5 years.

- Did everyone agree on chosen

plant species and location?

- Did school commit to plant the

species and maintain the site for

at least 5 years?

- Everyone is happy with

chosen species and

planting site.

- The school community is

notified of this commitment.

- Anecdotal evidence

from teachers involved

- School newsletter,

reports and plans.

Activities

1. Lessons for students on

biodiversity and the plant cycle.

2. Students undertake a

biodiversity survey of their

school grounds.

-Did students learn about the

topics covered?

-Did students learn about their

school’s biodiversity?

- Number of students

involved.

- Increase in knowledge.

- Attendance records.

- Biodiversity survey

results.

- Survey of students at

end of lessons.



Exercise - Developing an Outcomes

Hierarchy Framework

Use the blank table in your handouts to reflect on a current or upcoming project - map out it’s program logic, find any gaps in the current logic and brainstorm how to improve it and move it towards best practice

• Work in pairs, as a group or by yourself ☺

TIP: start by writing an Ultimate Outcome (top left)describing specifically how the environment is going to benefit from your project

e.g. increase in biodiversity, saving water, reduced waste to landfill, less litter flowing into creeks or ocean, less food miles/carbon emissions and pesticides (for growing food organically), less carbon emissions for reducing electricity use….

• Refer to the case studies and Flag a Facilitator for help!



Continue your professional

development

• Behaviour change programs- e.g. Les Robinson

• Community-based social marketing techniques-

e.g. Doug McKenzie Moir

• www.aaeensw.org.au/resources:

– Publications

– Best practice case studies

– Websites

– Green Dates

– Talks


http://www.aaeensw.org.au/resources


Become a member of AAEE NSW and receive:• Monthly e-bulletins and quarterly ozEEnews national newsletter;

• Access to NSW Chapter events, activities and networking opportunities in your region;

• Discounted conferences (including our 2019 NSW Conference in October), events and exclusive offers;

• Professional development webinars;

• Biannual Australian Journal of Environmental Education.

Tax deductible membership fees:

– Individual $105

– Student/Concession/Seniors $68

– School/Small NGO $145

– Corporate/Large NGO $250

www.aaeensw.org.au


development


http://www.aaeensw.org.au/



development

• Join your Regional Sustainability Education

Network www.aaeensw.org.au/networks


http://www.aaeensw.org.au/networks

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